The Maelstrom Saga
by Shadow Legion
Summary: (Formerly known as Namikaze of Cloud). The Kumo kidnapping of Hinata was successful however she was not alone. Naruto was kidnapped too... How would the consequences be so large? Watch the couple become a legend. Canon pairings and ShinoFu.
1. The Red Thread of Fate

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It's owned by Masahi Kishimoto.

Summary: Adoption from devilzxknight86's Namikaze of Cloud. A ripple which impacted and changed the future in the Naruto universe as Hiruzen Sarutobi's accidental revelation on Naruto's lineage to the public that changed the canon story course we know about. Would this turn better or worse? No bashing.

**This story is heavily modified that only a few ideas are from the original. This is a Reboot.  
**

Beta: AnarionRising27

* * *

**Beginning Arc**

_Konoha October Tenth_

_Hokage Office_

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting on his desk wearily reading the damage reports caused by the Kyuubi no Kitsune, not to mention Konoha lost his young successor and many of the fine and brave shinobi. It would take years for Konoha to fully recover.

There were too many questions and little answers surrounding the Kyuubi's attack. What really happened during Kushina's labour and what caused the Kyuubi to be released when the ANBU security detail, his wife Biwako and Taji were all murdered? Kushina's labour was a classified secret, and only a select few people knew. The entire information he had available didn't add up; certainly a critical piece of information was missing. Sadly no one there in the first place was alive and could tell the tale.

Sarutobi wished Minato could have told him what really happened before he dropped Gamabunta on the Kyuubi to stop another deadly **Tailed Beast Ball**, and left and performed the **Eight Trigram Seal** to seal the Kyuubi on his son before he died with his wife Kushina.

Thinking about Minato and Kushina's son, the Third immediately shifted his attention, casted this question aside and stood up to look at the cradle next to his desk, he would think about the incident later.

The baby was sleeping peacefully in his cradle. Sarutobi witnessed and would never forget the dying moments of Minato and Kushina, and their parting words to their son. Despite being the most powerful shinobi with the moniker the God of Shinobi picked up the baby in the cradle looked at him with sad sorrowful eyes.

'I'm very sorry Naruto you just lost your parents and you were born hardly an hour and have to bear this terrible burden, I truly am…..but I swore to your mother I will protect you.'

There was a knock on his office door and it was his secretary informed him. "Hokage-sama, the council is assembled. They are waiting for you."

The Third let out an exasperated sigh. He already knew the tiresome civilian councillors would be there, courtesy to Danzo, and he already knew what they wanted to talk about. Calling ANBU Dog to look after the baby, Sarutobi started to walk to the council chamber.

"Let's get this over with"

XXXXXXXXX

_Konoha Council Chamber_

"The demon must be killed now!" Sato, a civilian merchant-councillor who lost his only son and heir to the Kyuubi's attack, shouted to the approval of the civilian council. "We must finish what the Fourth starts!"

Fugaku Uchiha remained silent watching the exchanged shouts and heated arguments between the civilian councillors, just as most of his fellow shinobi councillors watched the whole comedy. The Uchiha clan was ordered not to engage the Kyuubi by the village leadership, some population, however, had begun to think the mighty Uchihas was cowering in fear during the Kyuubi's attack. Later Fugaku learned the idea was from Danzo. _That old war fuck._

He would have a talk with the Hokage about this, not now lest the council degraded any further, but Fugaku could not stop glaring at the old cripple during the meeting. However, that war hawk neither noticed it nor cared about it.

Fugaku, had been a friend with Minato, and his wife Mikoto was also one of Kushina's two best friends, they also knew about Kushina was going to labour. Upon learning Kushina's death, Mikoto grieved for a while, but she had pulled herself together for their two sons' sake.

Hiashi, another friend of Minato and his twin brother Hizashi being Minato's teammate, also knew about Kushina's secret and her royal lineage. His wife Hitomi was Kushina's other best friend, but Kushina had slightly better relationship with the Hyuuga matriarch's husband due to the Hyuuga's political connection, because Kushina was the secret princess of the Uzu no Kuni, the Land of Whirlpool.

The Land of Whirlpool was later integrated with the Land of Fire. However both Kushina and the Fire Daimyo almost held the same political power, despite the Land of Whirlpool was integrated into the Land of Fire; the Whirlpool's rich resources contributed the Land of Fire's economy tremendously, not to mention the Whirlpool was a strategic trade and transport hub.

Hiashi could not help but felt saddened that Minato and Kushina had sealed the Kyuubi and died saving their son. This made Naruto the third Uzumaki to have the beast sealed within him. Hitomi were devastated when she learned of Kushina's death. Hiashi had to comfort her for their unborn daughter Hinata before coming to this council meeting.

The council chamber room opened, everyone stood up to greet the village leader. Hiruzen sat in his seat looked around the council and began to address the councillors. "We suffered enough today. As you have already known that Minato died sealing the beast into a child…" He hadn't finished his sentence yet, and the whole civilian side and some minor clan heads erupted refusing to believe the baby was the jailor. They believed the baby was a weakened version of the Kyuubi, because of the whisker marks on the baby's face.

"SILENCE!" the Hokage roared, "Don't you interrupt your Hokage again, or I will summon Enma to personally bat you over the village wall. Minato sealed the Kyuubi into the boy and it was his last request that the boy is viewed a hero for holding the Kyuubi."

The civilian side erupted in anger thinking there was no way the Yondaime would actually want the child alive, more ridiculously viewed as a hero. Sato was more furious and he even slammed his fists on the table. "Kill the beast before it finishes its job!"

Sakiri Haruno on the civilian council agreed with him, "Yes! THAT THING took Minato-kun away from us!" The female councillor was angry and upset, because secretly she had a big crush on the Yondaime since he started to get the moniker Konoha Yellow Flash knowing that he would be great. She was right: Minato eventually led Konoha to victory in the bloody Third Shinobi World War and was hailed as the greatest war hero, and later became the Fourth Hokage. Sakiri, however, mainly wanted to have a big piece of his glory and to ride his success and status, never worked a damn thing herself to earn as she believed she was entitled to live. Now her chance was taken by the damned Kyuubi.

The shouts and arguments abruptly stopped when a bandaged man raised his hand. "I have a better idea…..Let me have the boy; I'll personally train him to be Konoha's best weapon to ensure this village's supremacy over the world."

The destructive battle between Hashirama Senju with his Mokuton and Madara Uchiha with the Kyuubi which created the Valley of the End could not truly gauge the Kyuubi's power, but the sheer destruction on the village by the Kyuubi alone tonight had demonstrated how magnificently powerful the beast was. It was definitely stronger than the Hachibi many had witnessed during the Third Shinobi World War. The Kyuubi was indeed the most powerful superweapon and this was too great to pass it up.

"Danzo…" Sarutobi angrily narrowed his eyes looking and suspecting the war hawk's true intentions. Before the Hokage spoke to the Darkness of the Shinobi and calmed down the civilian councillors, someone interrupted him again.

"What? Are you insane? Kill the monster before its power fully returns!" The rest of civilian councillors followed suit, screaming for the baby's public execution to appease the whole Konoha population. To the horror of to the Hokage and the major clan heads, this madness was getting out of control.

"ENOUGH! FOR KAMI'S SAKE!" Hiruzen stood up from his seat and screamed, "IF MINATO AND KUSHINA'S SON DIES THEN THE KYUUBI WILL BE RELEASED!" He flared a huge amount of killing intent to silence the council. To this, the chamber became so deadly quiet that even a pin could be heard dropping.

The major clan heads remained quiet the whole time, the Hokage's outburst confirmed their suspicion: Naruto was indeed Minato and Kushina's son. It all made sense, sadly. How could Minato ask any parent to offer their child if he couldn't do the same? He was a Hokage, after all. A great leader earned respects by leading with examples. On the other hand, most of the clan heads had baby children born this year. They shivered on the thought what if Minato came to them asking for their child to become a jinchuuriki.

To become a human sacrifice.

The civilians never thought about the parents of the 'demon boy' and this new piece of information before. Up until then the thought of just where Naruto came from was not their concern and Naruto should die for all their care. Many paled just thinking about the betrayal they would be doing to the Yondaime by executing his son, but others shuddered thinking about the beast being released.

Hiruzen couldn't believe his slip of tongue, the consequence what other hidden villages would do if they learn Naruto's lineage, particularly Iwa. He could not put the child in an orphanage because that would likely put him out in the open, and he surely would not trust Danzo or the civilian councillors seeing how much trouble they had caused him out of ignorance and greed alone. He knew dumb fools and greedy thieves when he saw ones. Now there were people here wanted to use Naruto to take advantage of his inheritance and birthrights.

"Yes. It's true. Kushina Uzumaki was pregnant with Minato's child. After the war they eloped and married and went to the Land of Snow for their honeymoon with Hiashi and Hitomi."

"Indeed, they and Hitomi and I went to the Land of Snow together for our honeymoon. Minato thought it would be fun to have company." Hiashi chuckled, fondly remembering Minato and Kushina jokingly warned Hiashi not to use his Byakugan to look into their room. The civilian councillors were shocked to hear the war hero of Konoha who single-handedly decimated an Iwa army in a matter of seconds, and got married right after Konoha emerged victorious.

"No! That can't be true!" Sakiri was in complete denial, remembering the redhead tomboy, "The Tomato? Of all girls why her?" She slammed her hands on the table. Everyone knew she hated the Red Habanero for some reason and no one knew why. Some people asked how Hiashi knew this piece of information.

"He asked me about a wedding ring for Kushina. I am his friend and I know the best jewellers after all" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Now what I see here is the civilian councillors do not understand the Fuinjutsu, but they think they do better than the Yondaime, whom was the world renowned seal master. Beside they took Naruto as a Kyuubi in human form or scapegoat for this tragedy, which I find completely ridiculous."

"Well, I can't place Naruto-kun in the orphanage…" Sarutobi sighed heavily and again rubbed his temples. "Jiraiya was appointed Naruto's godfather but he can't perform this duty now because of his spy network and it's urgently needed right now. I need Jiraiya to do counter-intelligence around the world that Konoha is still strong after the Kyuubi's attack. The last thing we wanted is show our weakened state and have an attack from another hidden village." Everyone agreed with the Sandaime: the Toad Sage's spy network was invaluable during these circumstances. It kept them one step ahead of their enemies and on the other hand, helping to defend Konoha.

"But I will choose which clan he will live in for his protection and well-being." The Sandaime announced a guardian candidate for Minato and Kushina's son.

"Wait. Why a clan? Why not a civilian foster family?" Sakiri asked thinking if her chance to be with the Yondaime was gone, since his son was half a year younger than her niece Sakura she could manipulate the two to get together.

'The fortune, the power, and the prestige…. It will be mine and he will be great with my niece once I teach her how to control him.'

Shikuka Nara just sighed in annoyance. "Troublesome, you think a civilian can handle any decent chunin? Beside, you were calling for his death not fifteen minutes ago and refused to accept the Yondaime's wish so why should we trust you?"

Danzo used the Yondaime's enemies as a card. "Then put the boy into my care. I can train him to protect himself against his father's enemies"

Hiruzen shot Danzo a glare. "How can I trust you when you invited the civilians into shinobi matters?"

Hiashi stood up, "Hokage-sama, please let me take care of the boy. I don't have a son, but I promise to treat him like a son, and Hitomi and Kushina were best friends after all."

Fugaku stood up too, "Hokage-sama, please let me take care of Minato's boy. I believe my two sons would accept Naruto as a brother."

"Hmm…" the Hokage was in deep thought and a decision came shortly, "I have no doubt Fugaku-san and Hiashi-san could take care and love Naruto-kun but I think in the long term and politically the Hyuuga clan is more suitable to take care of Naruto due to Kushina's royalty status. She was the princess and the ruler of the Land of Whirlpool. Now Naruto-kun is the heir of the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans and of the Land of Whirlpool after all."

"I would like Hiashi-san to teach the boy etiquette and politics when he grows up. He will need them when he dons these mantles and takes his parents' inheritance when he reaches 17 or chunin, whichever comes first."

Fugaku frowned, Mikoto would be very happy to look after her friend's son, but the Sandaime's reasons were logical, and he couldn't argue against this. Despite the Uchiha clan was a clan of elite ninjas, but he had to admit those Hyuuga bastards were better in the fields of politics and manners.

The civilian councillors didn't know about the mentioned Uzumaki clan, Hiruzen needed to give a short lecture about the Uzumaki clan was technically the unofficial third founder clan of Konoha because they supplied precious resources, fund, and Uzumaki fuinjutsu knowledge to help create Konoha. Beside Shodaime's wife was an Uzumaki, after all which meant the Uzumaki clan shared equal status with the Senju and Uchiha clans.

Out of the five shinobi superpower villages, only Konoha was the best in the seal arts after the Uzumaki clan's village Uzushio's destruction by the combined attacks from Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa and some minor hidden villages due to the fear of their powerful seal techniques. Despite Uzushio being outnumbered fifteen to one, Uzushio's shinobis were still able to inflict large enemy casualty and unbelievable kill ratio, and only a few of the enemy shinobis survived to tell the tales. The spiral mark on the back of the Konoha flak jacket was the Uzumaki clan crest: a remembrance of their friendship with the Uzumaki clan.

Sakiri was excited. 'Heir of a nation, heir of two powerful clans, Hokage heir and also Konoha heir, WOW, this boy will certainly become very powerful….those wealth, power and honour, I MUST have it.'

"Hiashi-san, please make sure Naruto-kun treated well. I will make an announcement about him tomorrow, and if your people attempt anything…."

"I will show them no mercy." Hiashi stated in a serious tone. "Minato and Kushina were our friends. I will do my best to ensure their son has a happy life."

Hiashi's promises pleased Hiruzen, and it's time to dismiss this tiresome meeting. "This meeting ends, good night. Hiashi-san, please come with me."

XXXXXXXXX

_Hokage Office_

After watching the Hyuuga clan head left with Naruto in his arms escorted by his Branch house bodyguards, Sarutobi looked up at the frames of the four Hokages on the wall.

'Sensei, I hope the slip of tongue would be a blessing of disguise in favour for your last descendant.' Sarutobi thought wearily. He grabbed some sake from his drawer, and he would have a good amount of it and rest for a while before resuming this tiresome paperwork duty.

He took some sips from his cup and there was a knock at his door. The Third bristled because he already knew who it was and what they wanted to talked about privately, despite the meeting was already over.

"Enter!" the door opened and revealed the expected three village elders, Danzo Shimura walking in with Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado behind him.

"The meeting was already over, what else you want to talk about?"

"Hiruzen, for the good of Konoha, you really need to reconsider-" Danzo pleaded.

"Do all of you forget what Mito-sama told us about being a jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi no Kitsune?" Sarutobi stared at them with critical eyes. "You really DO, don't you? To counter the Kyuubi's hatred and to prevent the seal from breaking, the jinchuurikis need to fill themselves with love. Your 'special training' will one day backfire horribly! And my decision is FINAL! Do not question your Hokage!" The God of Shinobi smashed his sake cup on his table. Danzo scowled and he knew he couldn't retort. He knew his rival won this round. However, he secretly swore one day he will get his weapon, the Kyuubi.

'This is not over.'

XXXXXXXXX

_Hyuuga Clan Head's House_

Hitomi, Hizashi, and his wife Hannah holding their baby son Neji were sitting in their house waiting for Hiashi's return from the council meeting, but they were surprised Hiashi returned home with a blonde baby.

"Brother, who is this baby?" Hizashi asked curiously.

"He is Naruto: son of Minato and Kushina."

This shocked Hizashi, this baby was his teammate's son.

"He is so cute, just like Neji-kun when he was born!" Hitomi squealed. Hizashi and Hannah smiled appreciating their sister in law's remarks.

"Honey, let me hold him." Hitomi held out her hands out waiting her husband to give her best friend's son.

Hitomi held Naruto lovingly. The baby brought her out of the grief to Kushina's death. However a day old Naruto managed to break free out of Hitomi's arms, much to the present adults' surprise, Naruto slid down and clung on Hitomi's swollen tummy affectionately and refusing to let go stubbornly. Hitomi gently patted Naruto and her tummy and smiled looking at her husband.

"It seems Naruto-kun knows our daughter will be very pretty and cannot wait for her to come to this world." Hitomi giggled again. "I wish they can be good friends."

All four Hyuuga family adults smiled.

XXXXXXXXX

_Uchiha Clan Head's House_

Mikoto was pleased that Itachi helped to look after Sasuke during the Kyuubi's attack, and now she was watching the two boys sleeping while waiting for her husband to arrive home. There was a soft sound came from the house door.

"I'm home." Mikoto knew whose voice it was and quickly walked toward the source.

"How was the meeting, darling?"

"Same as always: tiresome, and I like to quote from that lazy bastard, troublesome" Fugaku answered in a joking manner and Mikoto laughed. "By the way, Kushina's son Naruto is now at Hiashi's custody." Mikoto's eyes widened.

"I had tried to adopt Naruto, but the Sandaime gave the custody to Hiashi due to Kushina's royal lineage. I am sorry, Mikoto, I know you would love to look after your best friend's son..." The Uchiha clan head said dejectedly.

"It's all right," Mikoto placated her husband. "As long as Naruto-kun has a happy life and we can always visit him. Don't stress yourself too much, darling. How about we visit Naruto-kun in Hiashi's house tomorrow?"

XXXXXXXXX

_Next Day_

A funeral was held for those who perished in the Kyuubi's attack, including the beloved Yondaime, Kushina, and Biwako. The Konoha villagers grieved for their beloved Fourth Hokage's ultimate sacrifice but there was another hope.

Hiruzen announced the Yondaime had a son and he made another sacrifice by using his son to stop the beast from destroying Konoha. Many were shocked but could understand, hopefully. Naruto was hailed as a hero just like his father hoped.

Being the son of a Hokage was pretty much like a prince in Konoha. Many people rejoiced to hear that the Yellow Flash and the Red Death had a perfect son and they believed he would continue their legacy and could bring a bright future for Konoha.

Hiashi also made an announcement to his clan with the Hokage present in the clan meeting. The Hyuuga clan would be honoured to raise a powerful heir of a nation, clans, and to a Hokage and Konoha, and the benefits it would bring to the Hyuuga clan, to appease those elders.

However not all of them accepted this, a few days after the announcement there was an attempt on Naruto's life. A Hyuuga main house elder activated a branch house nanny's seal, and was going to juken strike the baby's heart. Fortunately Hiashi had stopped it in time when he heard the nanny's scream and returned the favour to the elder. The attempt was not out of blind hatred, the elder didn't lose any of his family members in the Kyuubi's attack. Hiashi suspected it was greed to gain fame and prestige for killing the 'demon' along with the political power inside the Hyuuga clan and the village.

This incident incurred the Hokage's wrath, and Sarutobi again criticized and was more disdainful of the **Caged Bird Seal**.

Later in the clan head's office, Hiashi was thinking about the wise Sandaime's and Yondaime's negative views on the "redundant" curse seal. Hiashi pondered this traditional Caged Bird Seal: was it truly for the good of the Hyuuga clan?

XXXXXXXXX

_December Twenty Seventh_

This month was rough for Hiashi and his wife Hitomi. Hitomi gave birth to a healthy girl whom they named Hinata.

Naruto was right two months ago: baby-Hinata was pretty.

When Hinata was put in her crib, Naruto in Hiashi arms looked at Hinata and started to chuckle with a baby voice.

"You like her, don't you?" Hiashi joked and patted Naruto's back lovingly. The clan head put little Naruto into Hinata's crib to see what the boy would do. All the Hyuuga adults watched in awe. The two babies smiled to each other and were trying to hold each other's hand.

In the next morning, the Hyuuga adults were surprised upon looking at Hinata's crib. Both babies were sleeping peacefully, but Naruto's red baby wristband, left by Kushina, was now held by the two babies' hands.


	2. The Namikaze-Hyuuga Incident

Beta: AnarionRising27

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_Three Years Later_

The atmosphere in Hyuuga clan was always strict and cold until Naruto was in Hiashi's custody three years ago. Many Hyuuga clansmen, even the ever stoic Hiashi, enjoyed the warmth and cheerful attitudes brought by the blond boy. Some, however, didn't appreciate it.

There were even several outside attempts on Naruto's life, luckily for the blond they were halted by Hiashi and his clan members, and the number gradually decreased due to the severe punishment imposed by the Hokage: a one way ticket to the Torture and Interrogation Department, much to a certain scarred captain's delight as he began to practice enhancing his interrogation skills on his new practice targets.

This paved the way for Ibiki Morino's ascension to the head of T&amp;I Department later.

'One day I am gonna thank the boy.'

XXXXXXXXX

_October Tenth_

"Hi Jiji!" Naruto called out affectionately and hugged the Sandaime for coming to his birthday party. Today was Naruto's third birthday. The Hokage, and many clan heads came with their heirs/heiresses to join Naruto's birthday party in the Hyuuga Compound.

There were many presents for Naruto, including a nightcap present from his godfather who wrote an apology letter for his absence. Also among the presents were many from the Hyuuga Branch house members, anonymously.

XXXXXXXXX

_One Month Ago_

Hinata was surrounded by two elders, from Main house, no less, and in front of them was a trembling Branch house female member and her eyes were watery. "Hinata-sama, this is easy: just do this hand seal we showed you…" Elder Kakuei instructed.

"S-She just accidently bumped to me when she was doing the house cleaning and she already apologized." Hinata asked worriedly and she had seen the terrible effect of the Caged Bird Seal. 'Why did she deserve such a punishment?'

"You are the Hyuuga heiress. You should put those low place Branch house members to learn their place. They must know that they are to serve to Main house." Noboru said, another arrogant elder.

"No! I won't do it! It is not right!" Hinata defied the elders' demand.

"*Sighed* I am disappointed in you, Hinata-sama, for a Main house member you are weak and a failure to do the necessary task." Kakuei's voice was icy cold, and the remark struck home: they started to call her weak whenever she could spoke. Hinata's eyes began to water too.

"Fine, fine then, I'll do this on your behalf, you can thank me later, _heiress_." Noboru said in a mocking tone and was preparing to activate the seal. However the elders were struck with pebbles.

"Hey! Don't bully Hina-chan and that aunty!" Naruto shouted.

"Ah, Hiashi's little pet, get lost before you regret it."

"Look at the old dogs who talk, you cowards should not gang up on two girls."

"THAT'S IT! I'm going to teach you manners: NEVER insult your seniors!" Noboru was settling in his Juken stance and rushed toward Naruto with fingers to hit the boy's stomach, and Naruto stormed towards him. Kakuei stood by and watched and smirked: finally the 'demon brat' was going to be taught a very good lesson and finally learn his place.

To their surprise the 'demon brat' unpredictably dived down below Noboru just when his fingers were about to touch Naruto's stomach, and bit Noboru in leg with his exceedingly sharp teeth. The elder screamed and screamed louder when Naruto bit his fingers.

Kakuei was shocked and began moving to support his fellow elder. The Kyuubi brat was not going to get away with this. The blond saw the other elder was coming to him and he quickly slid under Kakuei and hit his family jewels. The elder screamed and doubled over in pain before Naruto jumped to punch his nose.

The two elders lost their Hyuuga composure, they grabbed and tossed the boy to the ground and began to stomp on Naruto before all other Hyuuga members rushed to the scene when they heard their screams. The brawl ended in a "draw". Both parties were trading insults and curses while being dragged away by other Hyuuga members.

This secretly earned Hinata and Naruto the love and respect from the Branch house, but the enmity of most of the Main house members, especially the elders.

XXXXXXXXX

There were presents from the Hyuuga main house members for Naruto, only a few and those included from Hinata and her parents though.

Naruto was very happy. He had a happy life and a loving surrogate family with Hiashi's and Hizashi's families.

While all the other adults in the party enjoyed the party hosted by the Hyuuga, Fugaku silently stood in a corner alone leaning on a tree with his arms folded watching Naruto playing with other young children, including his sons Itachi and Sasuke.

Looking at the blond, he knew Naruto was also a victim of the Kyuubi's attack and still had to deal with a great deal of hardship from the village. Many people still hated and referred him as the 'Kyuubi brat' or 'demon' secretly and even had several attempts on his life.

Today was the also the three years anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack, which also started the ostracizing of the Uchiha clan. The matters on false accusations and insults against Uchiha had become increasingly serious. Fugaku complained to the village leadership a few days after the attack, but was shot off by those three damned elders.

Thinking about three years ago, the Uchiha was starting to lose his judgement. Anger was starting to boil inside him.

Unbeknownst to the people present in the party, Fugaku had unknowingly activated his Sharingan, and it was spinning wildly.

XXXXXXXXX

_Sakiri Haruno's House_

Sakiri's niece also attended Naruto's birthday, the councillor saw it was a good chance for Sakura to try to get close to the boy. Sakiri had been disappointed and upset when Sakura came home after the party "empty-hand" and told her what happened at the party. Naruto always stuck with the boys in the party, especially the heirs of Uchiha, Nara, Inuzuka, and Akimichi. Hell, Naruto even played with the heir of the creepy Aburame clan.

'Well, it's reasonable that the boy at his age would play with the other boys.'

However, Sakura told her a disturbing matter: the Hyuuga heiress was the only girl Naruto was comfortable around and had stuck by her throughout the whole party. When other girls invited Hinata to play with them, Naruto would always slide back to the boys. The kids would join the academy a few years later and hence started their shinobi career.

To her worry, Minato-kun's son and that freak-eyes Hyuuga princess would eventually fall in love with each other.

She had to find a way to prevent this from happening.

XXXXXXXXX

_December Twenty Seventh_

Today was a big day for the Hyuuga clan, the Hyuuga heiress turned three years old. There was a party to celebrate the heiress' birthday, followed by a private Hyuuga traditional ceremony for all unmarked Branch house children.

However the ceremony was ruined by the 'demon brat' again. The ceremony was left unfinished. The Hyuuga clan head was urged by the elders to attend a more important event in Konoha, not to affront the Hokage and the forthcoming guest.

Today was also the greatest day for Konoha ever since the Third Shinobi World War was announced ended. The conflicts with Kumogakure were going to end with a peace treaty. Most of the Konoha villagers were on the streets welcoming the arrival of the Kumo ambassador and the head ninja, D.

With the peace treaty signed and once the Hokage and the one-eyed Kumo head ninja shook hands the Konoha villagers immediately erupted into applause.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was happy that everything went well: no more life had to waste for the meaningless conflicts. While everyone began to leave to celebrate the new era of peace, D walked through the cheering crowd and he noticed Sato, Sakiri, and some Hyuuga elders among the crowd, he gave them each a quick glance and smiled.

XXXXXXXXX

_Midnight_

_Hyuuga Clan Head's House_

"Today was a very long day, we have finally achieved peace," Hiashi said to his wife as they were doing the household chores, "it could be better if Naruto behaved well."

Hitomi smiled at her husband's joke. The children were already asleep. The chores were done and the adults were preparing to go to bed. Suddenly there was a chill down on Hiashi's back and he felt alarmed and he activated his Byakugan to look at his daughter's room and he saw someone in Hinata's room. Telling Hitomi to stay, he rushed toward their daughter's bedroom only to find her missing.

"NO!" shocked, he turned to look at Naruto's bedroom with his Byakugan he saw the same figure in Naruto's room with two sacks jumping out of the boy's room, and Naruto was missing as well. "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Hiashi intercepted the person near one of the Hyuuga compound walls. He had a pretty good guess what was in the two sacks. "Don't you think you can get away with this…" Hiashi hissed and stroke the unprotected kidnapper's shoulder.

The kidnapper was shocked and wounded, and in a knee-jerked reaction he casted a lightning jutsu to incapacitate the Hyuuga clan head.

"NO!" Hiashi cried out as the bolt of lightning struck him in the chest. The Hyuuga clan head gritted his teeth as he attempted to stand only to discover he couldn't move.

He could only hopelessly watch as the kidnapper escaped before passing out.

XXXXXXXXX

_A Few Hours Later_

Sarutobi was shocked and furious. His surrogate grandson and the Hyuuga heiress had been abducted, just after the overdue peace finally arrived. Was it too much to ask for peace and prosperity?

"Report." The Hokage ordered the dog masked ANBU captain in front of him.

"Nothing, it's like they vanished overnight, even Pakkun couldn't find their scent." The grey-haired ANBU sadly shook his head. 'Minato-sensei I'm so sorry I failed you…'

All tracking teams at the Hokage's disposal were dispatched, but they couldn't find any single trace left behind other than that the lightning jutsu that incapacitated Hiashi.

'Who was responsible for this,' the Hokage wondered furiously. 'The Kumo ambassador who just left for the Lightning Country after the treaty, or Danzo, or someone else? If Danzo is behind this, then he has crossed a very fucking line and he will be as good as dead.'

Konoha was now at a critically vulnerable position without a jinchuuriki. Hiruzen had to recall back his legendary students Jiraiya and Tsunade to help reinforce Konoha and took other necessary measures.

Jiraiya was going to be very pissed and Sarutobi was certain he was going to be chewed, but it was nothing comparing the sorrow he felt he failed Naruto's parents.

Looking up to Minato's Hokage picture, Sarutobi tearfully apologized. "Minato, Kushina...Forgive me."

XXXXXXXXX

_Ten Days Later_

_Kumogakure Raikage Tower Restricted Basement Room_

The basement room was a highly restricted area; all the powerful weapons were stored here, including the treasured tools of Rikudo Sennin. Only people with the highest clearance could gain access, but it didn't mean this restricted room was always quoet.

"B, if you don't want to feel my Iron Claw, I suggest you STOP RAPPING NOW!" Despite annoyed by his brother B's rapping, the Fourth Raikage A still couldn't stop smiling as he was looking at D with two children sleeping behind him.

Actually B's rapping was just to hide his inner conflicts that they took Minato's son and an innocent child with a bloodline limit. Minato Namikaze spared them both during their first encounter despite many chances he had. Hell, Minato was the one of the few, despite being an enemy to him, to acknowledge him being a human, not just the Tailed Beast sealed within him. During Minato's Hokage tenure he banned a certain war hawk's attempts to assassinate him.

Was this how his brother showed his appreciation for Minato's action? For the good of Kumo? While B contemplated this he could hear the Hachibi grunting in contempt.

Flanking by his brother and the jinchuuriki to Nibi, Yugito Nii, the Raikage was now the happiest man in the ninja world. Not only A accomplished his old man's goal by capturing an Uzumaki, but now he also had a Hyuuga, the Kyuubi, and the son of his arch-enemy Minato Namikaze.

Why Minato named his son a fish cake found in ramen was beyond his comprehension, but screw it, that wasn't important.

The Raikage started to issue his order. "H, I want the girl into the Slave and Breeding Program." Yugito flinched when she heard the program. A woman stepped in from the shadow and dropped on her knee as she received her order.

"Hai"

The Raikage, however, hadn't finished his order yet. "Let me remind you again. If a girl in my Slave and Breeding program is harmed again, I will have you FIRED. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

This program was also used as an incentive for his elite shinobi and he needed to keep his troops' morale high. H gulped, she was certain the word of 'fired' was literal, not figurative, and she nervously nodded and took a sleeping Hinata and quickly left.

"B, you take Minato's boy to the sealing team immediately to suppress his memory, we begin training him tomorrow. I will give him a new identity. Once the boy becomes a fully-fledged shinobi, we can start to take more aggressive actions." A smiled deviously. Knowing adding extra seal carried high risk on jinchuuriki, and the Eight Trigram Seal was full of mystery. The Raikage would not be able to seal the entirely of the boy's identity, and he had to keep the boy's first name, but at least he could change the surname. The name Namikaze would certainly raise too much attention.

D smiled as he watched B took a sleeping Naruto away and was now asking for his big rewards. Suddenly the Raikage grabbed his neck and lift him off the ground before he could react.

"You fool. From the extraction team reports, you got caught by the Hyuuga clan head, and I told you to use an earth jutsu if necessary to frame Iwa. Not a LIGHTNING one and no doubt Konoha would suspect you. You are the Head Ninja and you disappointed me you moron!"

"But, but..." D struggled and wanted to excuse but the Yondaime Raikage didn't wait and snapped D's neck and tossed him to a corner.

"I don't keep a loose end. Yugito! Dispose this fool."

XXXXXXXXX

The Raikage remained in the room reading documents given by Yugito before she left, and everyone had left already one hour ago. A was reading the progress reports on all egg and sperm donation they had from everyone with bloodline limit, and was thinking what woman would be surrogates to ensure the children being born with a bloodline limit.

"In fifteen years I will make Kumo more powerful." He read that all the kunoichis and slaves on female growth acceleration and fertility pills. The purpose of which was to increase the rate of growth so that women would be able to get pregnant at a younger age and increase the chance of pregnancy.

A then flipped to the reports for every man who had a bloodline limit. Under the program all were taking male growth acceleration and fertility pills to increase the potency of their sperm, elite male shinobis who didn't have bloodline limit but were considered strong enough to hold against three jonins were allowed to enter the breeding program as well to pass on their own genes.

After finished reading the reports satisfactorily the Raikage looked at a particular wall in this room and he smiled which gradually grew and he started to laugh maniacally.

He had a dream, no, an ambition which he could make into a reality. It was of Kumogakure conquered the entire shinobi world and crushed all oppositions, and it would definitely become a reality when Kumo unlocked the secret of his arch-enemy's signature technique that dominated battlefields.

The wall displayed a huge collection of tri-pronged kunai, hundreds of them.

Flying Thunder God kunai.


	3. Night of the Long Knives

Beta: AnarionRising27

* * *

_Four Years Later, Late Evening_

_Uchiha Clan Head's House_

While doing house works and waiting for her family to return home, Mikoto for the past four years had been wondering if her two best friends' children were safe. Since Naruto was missing and Konoha was at critically vulnerable positions; she had been mobilized from the reserve forces to perform active duties despite being a housewife. However, a mission had gone terribly wrong and she was severely wounded. The wound would take her five or six years to recover. Now she could only do simple chores around the compound, but that was enough for her family.

The Namikaze-Hyuuga incident added fuel to the tension between the village and the Uchiha clan; people accused the Uchiha police for incompetence to stop the abduction of Naruto and Hinata. Despite the Hyuuga clan head and his wife's vouching for them, however the tension had recently become very severe. It would be a matter of time it would explode and Mikoto truly wished there would be a way to cool down the tension.

To make matter worse, her husband Fugaku and her son Itachi had been acting very strange recently. Fugaku always stayed at the police headquarter very late with his fellow Uchiha policemen, and Fugaku and Itachi became estranged with Fugaku often wondered about Itachi's duty to the clan since the latter joined ANBU.

**Boom!**

Suddenly there was a massive explosion that almost obliterated the Uchiha police headquarter, followed by several explosions which rocked the entire Uchiha compound.

Sasuke Uchiha froze and dropped his school bag when he saw several bodies lying on the streets of the police headquarters and to his horror and distress, one of the bodies was his father's. Then he saw a figure holding a blood-stained ninjato. Sasuke's mouth dropped in shock unwilling to believe what he was seeing as the figure became clearer: it was his brother Itachi Uchiha, reeking of killing intent and death. Scared, Sasuke made a run to get out, to his home or out of the compound to find safety. It didn't take Itachi too much effort to grab his brother.

"Why did you do it? Why? Why? WHY?" Sasuke cried and demanded for an answer while looking at his idol brother.

"This is to measure my capacity…foolish little brother," Itachi coldly grabbed Sasuke's collar and put his face closer to his. "You are unworthy to kill, but I will let you see how I slayed those people." The next thing Sasuke saw was his brother's Sharingan changing into a new form.

"Tsukuyomi!"

XXXXXXXXX

_One Hour Later_

"Why would Itachi do this?" The dog masked ANBU wondered in disbelief trying to comprehend why his former ANBU teammate would commit this atrocious act.

"Enough talking, go and find other survivors!" Hiruzen Sarutobi barked out an order, and all ANBU scattered.

"Well, this settles everything." Danzo Shimura walked to Sarutobi from behind.

"What does this settle? Don't you see the huge problem this caused?" the Hokage turned to face the ROOT leader angrily.

"It's considered relatively minor, at least the Uchiha clan would recover in a decade." The extremist shrugged off indifferently and there was no sympathy in his tone. "Thankfully Fugaku only conspired this with the battle-abled Uchihas without the rest of his clan. Had we not lost our weapon, we should wipe the whole clan out…"

Hiruzen's eyes widened. 'Weapon? Is he talking about Naruto?' This touched a very sore subject. 'Wipe out a whole clan? Is he a monster?'

The Hokage turned to glower at the Darkness of Shinobi. "Danzo…..I can't believe you, a village leader, could have such a genocidal idea, where is your Will of Fire?"

"But Hiruzen, I did it…."

"For the good of Konoha?" Sarutobi asked furiously over his protest, with volume increased on each of his words. "What you had done had weakened Konoha further. There might be a way to prevent the coup and prevent this tragedy, this purge….Not to mention your suggestion on genocide is horrifying. Tell me, if Naruto is still in Konoha, you will kill every single CHILD, WOMAN, OLD PEOPLE, EVERY INNOCENT OF THE CLAN, WON'T YOU?"

Hiruzen looked at Danzo's one eye and it confirmed his dreads: the Darkness of Shinobi would really wipe out a clan without a second thought. The Sandaime set his jaw. "I appreciate what you did for Konoha in the past, but every clan and people is a part of Konoha including the Uchiha clan and you overstepped the bounds this time. You are no longer the second in command and your ROOT is to be disbanded. We will talk further about this later."

'Thank Kami I haven't told him the secret negotiation with Takigakure, otherwise he would really wipe out the whole clan.'

A few days later the whole world learned the massacre of the famous Uchiha clan by their prodigy and clan heir who went psycho. Prior the massacre the villagers spat on the Uchiha clan, now people's views turned 180 degree and was sympathetic with the clan.

Lying on her hospital bed, Mikoto couldn't stop sobbing after the Sandaime told her what happened which was an S rank secret and no one else should know: her husband had orchestrated a coup and her eldest son was ordered to kill many of her clansmen including her husband.

To make matter worse now her eldest son was declared a missing-nin, there was a bounty on him, dead or alive. Even being captured alive that meant an eventual execution.

Then Mikoto felt a wave of great pain hit her eyes. Grabbing a mirror and she looked at her Sharingan was changing into a new form; four-petal flower was formed in each eye.

**Mangekyo Sharingan.**

'I am one of the few people who unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan,' seeing she had this new power. The only relief was she still had her younger son, as she turned to the bed next to her seeing her youngest son sleeping.

'_I would use this power to protect everyone, my son, my clan and I will find and protect my two friend's children._' Mikoto thought with a determination.

There were still many survivors. The Uchiha clan was not the most powerful clan anymore though, hence it began the rise of the Hyuuga clan as the most prominent clan in the village. While Sasuke Uchiha was still in hospital, there were many flowers placed on Sasuke's bedside cupboard and most of them were from the Sasuke Fan Club members.

XXXXXXXXX

_Elsewhere_

Thump.

The body of Yomi dropped on the forest ground dead, standing behind him was a blond hair Kumo shinobi holding a bloody katana with a pair of icy sky-blue eyes, he was wearing a standard Kumo chunin flak jacket. Three more Kumo–nins appeared after they took out their respective targets. The blond Kumo shinobi calmly picked up a scroll from Yomi's body and tossed it to his team leader.

"Excellent! The Raikage will be very pleased with this, Naruto." The team leader G said after he read the scroll's contents.

Team G belonged to a "jutsu recovery" task force created by the Raikage to strengthen Kumo in every area, including medical. Team G just hunted down a wandering medical-nin and his goons and "recovered" valuable medical information and now they turned to their next target.

"Who is next on the list, J?" G asked.

"Shinno, another medical-nin, and he had been spotted at the Land of Hot Water, not far from here." J replied after he read the list.

"Good, let's go." Team G began another hunt.

XXXXXXXXX

_One Month Later_

_Land of Lightning_

Team G had arrived in a town and was on the way to return home after their three months long mission that hunted down all the targets and "recovered" their jutsus. Team G just passed by a bookshop where many people were lined up for a new volume of a very popular series: Icha Icha Paradise.

Naruto turned around to see when he heard a perverted giggle from a man happily holding a copy of the book as he was heading home. He noticed the author of Icha Icha Paradise: Jiraiya. A headache struck Naruto and he grimaced.

"Are you all right, Naruto?" The concerned jonin leader asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the porn that disgusts me." Naruto pointed to a large commercial board posted by the bookshop advertising Icha Icha Paradise.

'Jiraiya, Jiraiya, Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, of course every shinobi in the world knew him, but why do I feel familiar with him….' The blond remembered the last headache he got was when the academy briefly taught him about the Sannin, but the headache this time was stronger.

G was baffled. "What? You think Icha Icha series is porn?"

"Well, you see, the adult-only restriction on the cover is a giveaway."

"No, it's a masterpiece! People as young as you probably don't appreciate it yet." G defended. "Actually I pre-ordered a copy by mail and it should arrive at my cousin's house tomorrow". Naruto and his teammates sweat dropped at their blushing leader's revelation.

"Oh, don't let my wife and the Raikage know it, OK?"

"Sure."

XXXXXXXXX

_Raikage Office_

"B, how many more years do you think Naruto can go to the Turtle Island?" The Raikage asked.

Kumo had started to take aggressive actions since Naruto became a fully-fledged shinobi at the age of five and earned his chunin rank in the following year. A was pleased and impressed at Naruto's development, determination and his performance. He was truly the son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Death.

"At least two more years," B was in deep thought. "The Kyuubi was extremely hard to control and I doubt Naruto at this stage he could succeed the Waterfall Test at his current level."

A leaned back in his chair. "All right, two more years." Two more years to get the Kyuubi under control and increased the might of Kumo.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*The Beginning Arc finally finished with Chapter 03 - Night of the Long Knives. Chapters Two and Three are relatively short; they are part of the introduction though. The next chapter begins **The Third Kumo Jinchuuriki Arc** as Naruto started to use Kyuubi No Kitsune's chakra at the age of 9 and then he found and saved Hinata from the terrible Slave and Breeding program.

*I thank you all for the reviews and PMs. There are three things I like to talk about before the future chapters.

*Regarding SasuSaku pairing, I do believe it at the end of Part 1 and it has become clearer with the most recent canon chapters. However I am not sure how to put it in TMS due to several facts: In canon Sakura finally gained Sasuke's respects at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Sakura strove to become better when she realized both of her teammates were incredibly strong and the fact makes her felt powerless, not to mention a dead last in her academy class surpassed her incredibly (including her Sasuke-kun) after Team 7 was formed in Part 1.

*In TMS without Naruto the dead last in Sakura's team, while she was the 'top' kunoichi in the academy, how could the NoC Sakura be motivated to strive? I doubt the SasuSaku pairing in this story unless something happens and it makes Sakura to work harder. Or she would stay as an obsessed fangirl until a rude wakeup call.

*To be honest I haven't thought much about SasuSaku pairing in this TMS, as this is **NaruHina centric**. The canon Naruto is Team 7 centric. Anyway I'd like to have your inputs how to make SasuSaku happens

***The Maelstrom Saga is NaruHina centric**. The reason why NaurHina supporters love Naruto/Hinata pairing is that they support each other. I want to keep it this way in the Maelstrom Saga, like the most famous Fanon story **Team 8**, a magnificent beautiful work.


	4. Maelstrom Begins

Beta: AnarionRising27

* * *

**The Third Kumo Jinchuuriki Arc**

_Two Years Later_

_Kumogakure Slave and Breeding Program Facility_

The facility areas were restricted to females only except the Reception and Display Hall: even the Raikage could not go beyond the hall unless necessary. The hall served to display all slaves to elite shinobis and let them pick their slaves as reward presents from the Raikage for their performance and merits.

In the hall a nine years old Hinata tearfully and helplessly watched another of her friends Riko "graduated", as the thirteen years old girl was taken away by a member of the Golden Horn Force. Hinata knew well what would happen to Riko when she came to her new master's home. She could only hope for her friend wouldn't suffer much at her first time.

Since the Raikage started his **Ten Year Plan** with an iron fist and set up a new radical social system which turned Kumogakure into a fully militaristic village. There were new criteria and standards to be a Kumo kunoichis and they were high. There was nearly fifty percent of chance Kumogakure's female population failed to become kunoichis and became surrogates instead. Young females refused or could not be surrogates faced worse fate: they were sent to this very same facility and became sex slaves.

There were male slaves as well, they were usually sent to work in mines or hard labours, unless some "special" elite shinobis personally requested the Raikage to have one of them instead of a female sex slave for their rewards.

The facility was not only a residence and prison for slaves, but a training school for them. There was even an indoor sports ground where slaves exercised and made their bodies healthy and more developed and more appealing.

Hinata's toddler memory was very fuzzy. The only earliest, clearest and only memory she had was that when she came to this facility at the age of seven as a **slave-student** from the affiliated slave-childcare centre. She was issued an oversized ragged shirt, nothing else.

Slaves were not only taught how to do house works and other chores for their masters while they were away on missions, but also sex education as how to relax and pleasure their masters. Slave-students watched porn videos in every sex education lecture. Although there was no practise for "purity" sake, there was live sex demonstration every week though. A shinobi paid for a B-rank mission came to the lecture hall with his slave and had sex with her in front of the students. Each week a new position and it caused all of the students to blush in embarrassment.

Later there was an oral demonstration, and lastly the couple performed with the last and unexpected orifice, a dirty region which terrified the slave-students. The headmaster H later told in a matter of fact tone to the slave-students that it was their job to please their masters on their demands, no matter which orifice their masters wanted. Hinata and all her fellow slave-students had tried to defy the headmaster and rebelled as they found this too obscene, and only got slapped in the face by H and her staff.

They were all later punished. Slaves were also subject to submission trainings, and those who disobeyed or made slight mistakes would be stripped, put on racks and whipped by those dominatrix staff, then healed later to prevent scarring. Hinata had taken her fair shares of punishment over the years.

Hinata gradually lost confidence and hopes she still had and she relented and accepted being a slave. In the end all the slaves were programmed it was their duty and fate to pleasure their elite shinobi masters and to bear children for the good of Kumo. A slave "graduated" when she was selected by an elite shinobi in the Reception and Display Hall.

Her will was crushed when most of her friends "graduated" just as Riko disappeared in her view. Hinata knew it was a matter of time before an elite shinobi would come here and claim her as his property.

'I hope my master is a decent man.'

XXXXXXXXX

_Valley of Clouds and Lightning_

"Good, Naruto, you can finally stop the lightning chakra on my blade with the wind release on your blade," B congratulated on his advanced kenjutsu training while using his wind affinity. Naruto weakly smiled at his compliments while he was panting. "I am sure one day your will surpass me."

Naruto had been training diligently and doing many missions for the past six years of his life nonstop.

"Well done, well done." A was clapping his hands as he walked up to the duo and looked at Naruto. "How about you get some rest while I have a talk with B?"

The Raikage spoke to his brother after Naruto left, "You think Minato's boy is ready now?" he was growing impatiently to gain the Kyuubi's power. He couldn't wait to have a third jinchuuriki under his command.

B was in deep thought. 'Naruto should be able to pass the Waterfall Test and go straight to the Kyuubi, but I still have some doubts when he faces the Kyuubi. The nine-tails is far more powerful than the Hachibi, but he should be all right with Hachibi's and my helps.'

The Hachibi jinchuuriki turned to his brother and nodded solemnly. Naruto returned to his sensei after a rest and refreshed himself by washing his face on the nearby river.

"Naruto, we will go to the next stage of your training. We are going to go to the Turtle Island, pack up you stuff and meet me at the gate in two hours." B addressed.

"Hai, B-sensei and Raikage-sama." Naruto bowed to them and left.

Since Kumo captured Naruto and that Hyuuga girl, A had begun his Ten Year Plan, this plan was radical and controversial, but B had to accept this for his brother's sake. The Raikage, however, became very obsessed on his plan and became aloof towards his brother. Naruto instead became more like a brother to him than A currently was. Sometimes B wished Naruto could call him "Bro" instead of "Sensei", probably after they returned from the Turtle Island.

"What do you think, B? Do you think he is old enough to have one?" A question broke B's thoughts. "Omoi always talked to him about it and you always talked about big breasts." He remembered B once took his two male students, Naruto and Omoi, to peek on the Kumo hot springs, and in the end B earned the wrath of his Iron Claw. In retrospect looking on the bright side, B's influence probably did him a favour.

"Naruto will no doubt take care of her, he knows his duty," B smiled. "I heard a lot of female population like him and some of them wish him to be their master."

The Raikage raised an eyebrow as he heard the same rumour as well. 'Good, perhaps it will be much easier to breed the combined powers of Namikaze and Uzumaki.' Imagine in the future Kumo had a small army of powerful shinobi with high stamina, huge chakra, and immense speed and instantaneous reflexes all wielding the legendary Flying Thunder God technique.

The boy never ceased to amaze A. One month ago Kumo came to possess the **Shadow Clone** technique and gained other information from a Konoha jonin before the jonin's throat was slit. Expecting Naruto created a few Shadow Clones like all other Kumo jonins, Naruto instead churned out at least three hundred shadow clones easily. It had only taken him a few hours to learn it, and he was just nine years old! The true hybrid power of Namikaze and Uzumaki. Imagine how many shadow clones Naruto could create when he accessed the Kyuubi's power.

"I'll get Samui, Karui and Omoi with you two to go to the Turtle Island. It is time to get the Kyuubi under control. Also, his new wind release technique, how did it come along? I mean, I was shocked he was able to create a jutsu similar to my old man's signature technique but using wind."

He was happy that a familiar technique was created after his old man's technique, proving just how great he was.

The Hachibi container smiled, knowing his brother would like this. "It is extremely sharp, and can even cut through three centimetres of thick steel, currently, I have no doubt this technique would be more powerful and deadly in the future, and possibly even penetrate the Iwa's rock armours."

The Raikage began to wonder if anyone else would be able to learn it as it had taken Naruto weeks to master the technique. A was so impressed that he had marked it as an A rank Futon assassination technique. Watching B left as well, A made a mental note that once he returned to his office he would inform H there would be another elite shinobi coming to her place and she should arrange a group of girls around Naruto's age, no more than 3 years senior, for the selection display.

XXXXXXXXX

_Naruto's House_

His home was cold and empty. Naruto hated it every time he entered it. He had been living here when he became a ninja at the age of five, his house was a standard one. It was pretty comfortable but it was too large for one person to live in. The house was so damn quiet and Naruto didn't like it, always reminded that no one was waiting for him to come home.

He was alone.

The Raikage told him his parents perished in a border skirmish against Konoha. Their photos were all destroyed in a house fire, and he was the last of his clan line and he had a duty to carry out. He was not only to give Kumo strong children and to restore his clan in the future, but to become a perfect weapon to protect Kumogakure and to crush their enemies.

The blond stopped asking about his parents when the Raikage's patience ran out and smashed his desk into splinters and yelled and seriously warned him never to ask about them again. The jinchuuriki was always envious of people with family, every time he saw children with their parents he felt pang in his heart. That was why he trained and took mission nonstop. He could be too busy to think about family.

Naruto looked at the clock and cursed, 'Shit! Time is running out. I have to pack quickly.'

The third Kumo jinchuuriki quickly grabbed some fuinjutsu scrolls that could kill boredom during the voyage. He liked seal arts for some reason and he was really good at it. After putting all necessities in his backpack and grabbing his katana, he quickly left home to meet B.

XXXXXXXXX

_One Week Later_

_Turtle Island_

Naruto was slowly dragging his feet toward B's house after just barely passed the Waterfall Test and triumphed over his darkness as B instructed. Two years ago he just learned he was a jinchuuriki like his two teachers: B and Yugito. The revelation struck him hard, he was speechless and terrified when he learned it, and in the end he broke down and cried.

Fortunately B and Yugito were there for him. They were brother and sister figures to him and often treated him ramen, his favourite food. However there was still emptiness in his heart, and it hurt. The headaches and the injuries sustained during missions or trainings were nothing compared to the pain and loss on his heart.

Naruto looked up at the sun despite its burning brightness and wished there was a way to fill this hole in his heart.

XXXXXXXXX

_B's House_

Naruto was wondering why B's other students had to come along since they bothered him all the time. Omoi always made fun of him, bothering him and always talking about having chicks to love all the time. Karui always berated Omoi and hit him when she heard him muttered something like "flat chest".

"Stop talking like that!" Karui shouted angrily at him. Omoi just rolled his eyes and told her the reason why she wasn't a surrogate was because she had no breasts unlike someone else while he was looking at the fourth member of the group. Samui glared at him knowing whom he was talking about, her, and her bust.

"Stop it you two it's getting old, Kami man my back hurts." The blonde kunoichi complained.

"It's because you have that small boobies growing into something larger." a perverted grin appeared on Omoi's face. Naruto hearing him rolled his eyes, and wondered what he did to deserve being around this pervert who couldn't learn when to keep his mouth shut. "By the way, Naruto, are you eligible for the Elite Shinobi Program?" This got both Samui's and Karui's attention while Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"What? Oh Come on. I had to literally beg B-sensei and I took it with five others from my age group to get into that program and it wasn't easy for me to face one opponent after another."

There were chuckles from B upon hearing their conversation. "Naruto can enter the program without a fuss unlike you who had to win to get in. Actually Naruto has fought many opponents since he was five years old, not to mention he was the last Arashi. However the Raikage is impressed with your performance, Omoi, so I will recommend to the Raikage for you to enter the program too."

"Thank you, B-sensei!" Omoi smiled widely and wondered what would happen when he picked his girl. "I am a bit afraid that they might all get jealous and fight over me." This gave Naruto a huge anime sweat, again wondering what he did to deserve this.

"Naruto, I guess you passed the Waterfall Test, right?" the Hachibi jinchuuriki asked.

"Yes, B-sensei."

"Then we will go the Tailed Beast Temple tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXX

_Next Day_

_Tailed Beast Temple_

_Jinchuuriki Training Chamber_

Outside the chamber, Naruto stuck his head inside the Nibi's statue which he found a switch in its mouth to open the chamber, while Samui, Karui, and Omoi watched the statue went down and the door opened. They all freaked out when Naruto removed his head showing his headless body.

"Hahaha!" both jinchuurikis laughed while holding their stomach. B did the same thing before.

"So this is where I am going to learn to control the Kyuubi's chakra?" Naruto turned to B who nodded.

"Do what Bro told you to do. From all the trainings you got, just take some of the Kyuubi's chakra. Even a little is fine. We don't know the nature of the seal which your old man used. The information died with him and we couldn't find any of his notes about this."

It was not a complete lie, but the truth was that the A-B Combo confirmed the seal on Naruto's navel was stronger than the **Iron Armour Seal**. Kumo had no knowledge of as it originated from the Uzumaki clan.

"Sensei, let me do it alone. I want to prove my worth to my clan ancestors and the Raikage."

B wondered if he should allow Naruto do this but knowing what the Hachibi said. They both had seen Naruto pulled some crazy stunts that only he was able to do.

"Fine, everything in this room is cut off. When you get the fox's chakra the door will open and I will come to check on you at the end of the day." The Kumo Guardian said.

"Thanks, B-sensei." Naruto appreciated and sat down in the middle of the room to mediate. He began to focus to enter his mind to finally meet the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Is it a good idea to leave Naruto by himself, B-sensei?" a concerned Samui asked B.

"Naruto has something to prove and I have confidence he can do it," B assured and reluctantly added, "And when he is done and is old enough he will give Kumo a lot of strong ninjas."

XXXXXXXXX

_Naruto's Mindscape_

Drip. The area was dark and wet. It's like inside the industrial factory or sewer with water dripping from the pipes and the ceiling.

Drip. There were some cracks on the walls.

Drip. The floor was flooded by ice cold water and the shallow water had reached his ankles. Naruto found himself in a corridor with many doors and entrances.

"**Come here, boy.**" A loud and deep voice boomed through the corridor.

Following the voice source, the blond entered a big hall and there found a large golden cage, which was held closed by a small paper tag with the kanji word "seal" on it. Behind the cage stood the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune, named Kurama by the Rikudo Sennin, in all its nine-tailed glory.

The Kyuubi met Naruto with his blood red slitted eyes and his immense fangs. "**Greeting brat, what do I owe for you finally coming here?**" The voice was powerful and the fox was grinning showing his rather large fangs. He was wondering why the boy was here and he could sense the Hachibi's presence nearby.

"Don't call me brat." Naruto replied annoyed. "You are my prisoner in my body, so behave and fight for my village! For the glory of Kumo!"

The Kyuubi no Kitsune couldn't help but laughed uncontrollably and the corridor outside the hall echoed the loud laugh.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Naruto felt even more irritated.

The fox shook his head, knowing the boy had his memory suppressed. "**Because you are the one to talk: you are a prisoner in your own body too.**" Naruto raised an eyebrow

"Wh-What do you mean?" the blond tried to understand what the fox meant.

"**You sometimes have sudden headaches and sometimes there are images of white-eyes people and a girl with pale lavender eyes, don't you? In case you failed to realize yet, your old memories are resurfacing….bit by bit,**" the fox continued. "**For your information, your memory is suppressed. If you don't believe me, then check the door back in the corridor. Go back there and find the door at the end. That door holds your old memory and I am sure you will find something interesting….**"

Conflicted after hearing what the Kyuubi had just stated Naruto slowly went back to the corridor and found the door at the end just as the fox had described, and he was surprised when he discovered a rather intricate seal on it. As an Uzumaki who had studied seal arts, Naruto recognized it was a memory suppression seal.

'Did the Raikage kidnap me?' Naruto wondered however he was still suspicious of the Kyuubi's motives, as foxes were tricksters.

"**It seems you still doubt it,**" the Kyuubi no Kitsune said aloud from his cage. "**You only have two choices; one is to keep that seal and remain that Raikage's puppet. The other one is to remove this memory seal and I will make a deal with you.** **An offer you cannot refuse.**"

Naruto thought for a moment and a decision was made: he was going to accept the Kyuubi's offer as this new information had him strongly suspected the Raikage and Kumogakure. Just as Naruto was about to remove the seal, he was halted by the Kyuubi.

"**Wait! Before you remove that memory seal, I would suggest you to put another seal, such as a storage seal. Lest the Kumo-nin and the Hachibi realize you broke your memory seal. You are an Uzumaki and creating a simple seal shouldn't be a problem to you.**"

Unsure what Kyuubi meant about being an Uzumaki, Naruto went to work preparing and placing a replacement seal and then carefully removing the suppression seal. He immediately dropped to his knees and grabbed his head and howled in agony, as his head was overloaded with memories. A few minutes later Naruto stood back on his feet as his headache finally receded and slowly walked back to the cage room to face the Kyuubi.

"I now know who I am…I remember…so, Kyuubi, what is your deal?"

When the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed into Naruto by the Yondaime Hokage, he had planned to consume the boy to break out the seal, but now things had changed.

"**We have common enemies and I WILL NOT BE SOMEONE'S PET AGAIN. We can help each other, but first I will tell you everything you need to know.**" The fox for the first time in his life took a special interest in this child in front of him.

'**Out of the other two, there is something unique about him.**' The fox smiled as he laid down. He decided to tell Naruto what happened to him with Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

"The First Hokage? Isn't he from Konoha, another village?" Naruto wondered but he continued to listen. He learned about the Uzumaki clan and the Kyuubi's first host Mito Uzumaki who later became a Senju. Kyuubi told Naruto the history of Konoha then to the part of Naruto's birth.

Naruto was shocked to hear this. "I was born in Konoha?"

The fox nodded and told him he was stolen from Konoha along with a Hyuuga girl when they were three years old. As an heir to the Namikaze and the Uzumaki, the Third Hokage put him with the Hyuuga clan for protection.

"**After that something went wrong. For a foreign nin to bypass the Hyuuga security meant it had to be an inside job.**"

Naruto hearing this nodded, knowing the Raikage loved to get his hands on dojutsu.

"Who's the person that ripped you out of my mother and was responsible for my parents' death?"

"**Madara Uchiha; he enslaved me twice.**" the Kyuubi no Kitsune looked at the boy, seeing a strength in his eyes. The fox extended his massive fist out of his cage, "**Here's the condition of my deal: I want Madara Uchiha dead. If you agree the deal, fist bump with me and you will gain some of my power and my unique abilities including the Negative Emotion Sensing and Katon, Fire Release.** **However, only one-tenth of my power is currently available to you.** **You won't receive my full power because there is a key to this blasted seal, which restricts my charka flows into your body completely, and it would take several years for you to grow strong enough to handle my full power. But at least it will satisfy that Raikage.**"

"You help me and the slaves to escape Kumo, and in return I promise you I will slay Madara Uchiha and you will have your freedom when my time of death comes." Naruto accepted the deal. He remembered one other thing about foxes from the legends: they were loyal to their words no matter what.

"You know, this environment doesn't look really comfortable to you, let me make it better." Naruto closed his eyes and the fox watched intrigued, suddenly the area shifted into a lush forest with a lake and the cage vanished.

The fox felt something on his neck and he found out it was a collar with a kanji "seal". The strongest Tailed Beast was impressed. '**At least it is better than the cage. This boy is really different; there might truly be something special in him.**'

"All right Kyuubi, do you have a name stead of 'Kyuubi'? It's kind of weird to call you by the number of tails you have? Does every Tailed Beast have a name?"

The fox's tails were waving around. "**My name is Kurama.**"

XXXXXXXXX

Two hours passed, B was anxiously waiting outside of the room and was ready to help Naruto if Kyuubi went out of control. The door opened to reveal Naruto radiating a different aura B had never saw before.

"I have done it." Naruto claimed and B raised his eyebrows behind his shades.

"Oh? Show me." B asked excitedly. He and the Hachibi were curious about Naruto's new power.

Naruto sighed inwardly, but he knew that asshole Raikage would want to see the result when they came back to the village. It was sooner or later they knew the results of his accessing to Kurama's power. He charged up his power and his body was instantly in yellow chakra shroud with six magatama marks around his neck. Naruto's hair stood up and the seal on his stomach became visible with one black line flowing over his arms and legs, and one swirl mark appearing on each of Naruto's arms. B and the Hachibi watched Naruto's transformation in awe.

"Awesome! Naruto! You really can access the Kyuubi's chakra," B congratulated his fellow jinchuuriki. "You can draw out more in the future. We will be heading back to the village tomorrow. Bro will be very happy about this." Then B started to rap and dance in joy.

'Yeah, yeah, he will….' Naruto began to keep his emotions buried behind a mask of joy in his accomplishment. He would have to pretend his memory was still sealed and he was still a loyal shinobi of Kumogakure.

XXXXXXXXX

_Late Evening_

_B's house_

After dinner, Naruto went back to his quarters. When he removed the memory suppression seal all his memories prior the abduction came back, there was, however, a piece of him was missing, he tried to remember the name and the face of that girl with pale lavender eyes. Something also bothered him.

'Why did the Raikage do it? Just to increase Kumo's military power in the world with his Ten Year Plan? Was it really that a simple reason?' He felt something sinister about the plan. 'But I swear that asshole Raikage A and the rest of the Kumogakure will feel my wrath; and I never break my promise.'

XXXXXXXXX

_Next Day_

The team would go back to Kumo after breakfast today. Naruto now must focus to get stronger, he knew he was strong enough to be a Kumo elite shinobi, but he needed to be stronger to liberate the Kumo's victims and to make Kumo pay. Walking passed B's room Naruto heard some moaning.

'Man, he still had time to screw his girlfriend. It's going to be at least an hour.' However Naruto had some mixed feelings about his two teachers: B and Yugito. What was their involvement in this scheme? He looked up to them as brother and sister because they were nice and they were fellow jinchuurikis.

'I will look for evidences before I judge them.'

"Yo," Omoi greeted Naruto, wondering if something was wrong. "Something bothers you?" Karui and Samui both turned to Naruto as he rolled his eyes making them raise eyebrows.

"B-sensei is having his morning pleasure." Naruto's teammates didn't give him a reaction except Omoi.

"Man, B-sensei is lucky. I can't wait to get my own when we get back."

Naruto hearing this rolled his eyes again and wondered what could possess his male teammate to be like this. "Whatever."

Samui heard this and raised an eyebrow. "Naruto, you must know that Kumo needs to increase its military power against the other nations. Everyone is doing their part and this is how we do it." She was wondering what was going on as she watched Naruto sighed.

Thinking about a reasonable excuse, Naruto looked at the three knowing they would buy it, "Look I understand but with me being the last of my clan, it makes me wonder if I can fill those shoes. I mean wouldn't you ladies want a guy that's loyal to you only?"

The girls frowned and nodded but Omoi burst out laughing, "WOW that is stupid. I mean what happens if all the girls fight over me?" He was smiling and sticking a lollipop in his mouth, while his teammates glared at him making him nervous.

"I think you are over exaggerating again Omoi. But yeah, it is for Kumo and it is my home so I am going to do it because I want my children to know where they came from." Naruto put up his new mask to fool them.

Samui got up and walked to the table getting her gear, "I know what you mean. It is something that all of us have to do. I mean, I have seen girls a few years older than me pregnant at thirteen."

Karui nodded, "Yeah, my older sister was thirteen when she was pregnant and gave birth not too long ago. She was lucky enough to even carry some bloodline limit having to do with magnetism, but she died in childbirth," The redhead kunoichi was sad, "But she did her part and will be honoured."

Learning this information from his two female teammates, Naruto smiled at them but secretly he was seething in anger behind his mask hence other people did not notice it.

'Getting pregnant at twelve or thirteen? This gotta be kidding me. Are that ape and Kumo council crazy or power hungry without any constraint and they don't give a fuck about the birth risks and human life?' Naruto quickly came to the conclusion that the Kumogakure leadership was very unforgivable.

On the other hand, hearing this Omoi smiled thinking about all the babes he was going to "claim" making everyone anime sweat-dropped. But none of them felt that it was wrong.

"It is just the way it is. I mean I am going to start taking growth acceleration and fertility pills in a month." Karui was hoping for something while Omoi burst out laughing again and wondering aloud if the growth pills could help her tits. He was cut short when she slammed her fist on his head. Naruto wondered how they could talk so casually about this.

'The academy and the Kumo system must have brainwashed them. It's all that Raikage's fault and that Ten Year Plan of his…'

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki's thought was cut short when B came here and smiled at them. "Ready to go home?" Everyone nodded, and Naruto gave him a serious look.

"More than ever." B looked into his fellow jinchuuriki's eyes and noticed there was more determination.

On the boat they were on the way back home. Looking at the direction of the Cloud village, Naruto began to lay out plans to learn everything from the Kumo's library and to gather evidences secretly.

'One day I am going to teach that steroid induced ape of a Raikage and all of Kumogakure leadership a very hard lesson that future generations will remember their crimes FOREVER.'

He could hear that Kurama was chuckling darkly.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*It's a partial Nine Tailed Mode. Naruto currently only had 10% of Kurama's power, but it would grow in the future. I believe Naruto still needed the seal key from Jiraiya to access Kurama's full power. Beside it is better not to have him overpowered. He's still nine years old. Where is the fun in one-side battle when Naruto faced future opponents?

*In canon Naruto wore a happy mask to hide his suffering. Here he wore a mask too to hide his fury from the Cloud Village.

*I took the liberty to make Namikaze a clan. In canon there was no mention of the Namikaze clan, and Minato's house didn't seem to be in a clan district/compound, or probably the house was inside a clan district/compound. Namikaze clan was a very powerful clan but almost extinct, and Minato was the last Namikaze before Naruto was born.

*Gori means gorilla in Japanese word, just like "Ero" for perverted in Japanese term. Now A got a nickname from Naruto secretly, and later it would be public and the Raikage would learn it as well.

*Please compare Naruto's partial Kyuubi form with the full one on wiki. You will find there were some appearances missing, such as his horn-shape hair and several black lines on his body. In canon there were Kyuubi mode and Tailed Beast mode after Jiraiya entrusted the seal key to the toads and Naruto before his death at Nagato/Pain. In this story Naruto was forced to access Kurama's power without the key and A, B, and even Naruto didn't know there was a key, and they didn't even know who safeguarded the key. The A-B Combo knew the key existence from Tsunade when they were preparing for the incoming Fourth War.

*Canon Naruto wore his mask very well, even Iruka failed to realize it until the very last minute, and only the Third Hokage, who had more than 65 years old of wisdom, knew it. I believe the NoC mask to hid his fury against Kumo would work well, as he already had 4 years of shinobi career and knew well the arts of deception with Kurama's support.

*B replaced Iruka's role as a brother figure to Naruto in this story.

*Lastly, power, no matter political, military, personal strength, or in any other area, corrupt people when it was held by the wrong people.


	5. NaruHina Reunion

Beta: AnarionRising27

* * *

_A Week Later_

_Kumogakure Raikage Office_

The Raikage was extremely pleased when Naruto demonstrated his control on the Kyuubi's chakra when B and Minato's boy came back. It was a huge step to his Ten Year Plan. He had a concern, however, and it was about Naruto's memory.

"You said even the Kyuubi does not remember anything from its past when we placed the memory suppression seal on Minato's boy six years ago?"

B nodded and his brother laughed happily that even the seal could also work on the fox through the seal on Naruto's navel.

"And what about his seal on his left arm, is there some change on it?" The Raikage wanted to make sure Naruto's memory was still suppressed.

B shook his head, "Nope, the seal works perfectly. I trained the boy to use some of Kyuubi's chakra, and even Hachibi is impressed, and he also agrees that the seal used on him must have affected the Kyuubi. It makes sense that both seals probably work together so in other words, Bro, we are lucky."

"Hahaha, good, good, get your boys. I think it is time for them to go to H's place. It's time for them to get their rewards."

The A-B Combo duo couldn't help but chuckled wondering how Omoi was going to take this.

XXXXXXXXX

_An Hour Later_

_Kumogakure Slave and Breeding Program Facility_

_Reception and Display Hall_

When Naruto got there he noticed the Raikage, B and Omoi were there as well. The Raikage pointed to Omoi and Naruto to come forward after finished talking with the headmaster of the Slave and Breeding Program Facility.

The two walked forward and dropped on their respective one knee to salute the Raikage. "Yes, Raikage-sama?" Naruto asked in a humble tone, he still had to keep the mask and acted as a loyal Kumo shinobi.

A smiled, as this was the first step for those two boys, but more significantly for Minato's boy. Soon Kumo would be able to breed the combined power of Namikaze and Uzumaki with their special abilities. "Today marks the day for you two to have your own slaves."

"Yahoo!" Omoi cheered. Naruto gave a fake smile.

The Raikage looked at the boys, "They will be your responsibility, which means you have to make sure they do not cause any trouble or break any slave rules, and they must obey any of your demands, or you will have to punish them accordingly."

"Your punishment kits will arrive to your homes this evening." H said in her dominatrix tone. "Your slaves will satisfy your many desires despite they are young and more when they and you reach puberties." Both Omoi and Naruto nodded as they knew the rules.

"And never forget you have your duties to Kumo, and I expect 'results' when you boys and your slaves complete your puberties, especially you, the last Arashi." the Raikage looked at his third jinchuuriki. "Go see a doctor for medical instructions after you leave this building with your slaves."

"Hai!"

'Can't wait to get more Namikazes and Uzumakis to be under your commands and don't care about pregnancy at young age, huh, gori?'

A nodded to the facility headmaster, who then told her staff to send the girls in three rows. There were around forty girls ranging from nine to thirteen years old. Omoi was ecstatic while his blond friend made a lecherous chuckle to blend in.

"Omoi-san, you go first." H instructed the young dark skinned ninja. Omoi walked down and stopped as he found a busty thirteen years old blonde.

"Hmm..." looking at her and he walked forward, he examined her body, "I will take her."

Omoi smirked and Naruto raised an eyebrow. Despite a few years older than them, the girl had the same hair style and bust with Samui.

'*Sigh*, Samui is going to be very pissed when she finds out about this, so will Karui, I guess. Probably they can teach him a good lesson after all.'

H turned to Naruto. "Naruto-san, your turn." She narrowed her eyes at the son of Minato Namikaze, whom she had had a crush with. If she was right, he would be as handsome as his father. Probably one day she could get a piece of Minato's son.

Naruto nodded and walked toward the parade. Many girls lifted their heads to see this elite shinobi, whom H and other facility staff spoke highly of: a talented ninja prodigy that appeared only once in a generation in Kumogakure. The blond in front of them was an elite shinobi highly decorated with distinction and honours despite he was as young as them, but he was nice and decent. The Raikage even praised him, and he rarely praised people.

Naruto was walking slowly and pretended to leer at them like some pieces of meat, but secretly he was sad for them and felt hurt to see them like this. According to Kurama, the Hyuuga girl he was kidnapped along with should be in this facility and many of girls here were around his age. The girl should be here as well, yet the blond could not find the girl with pale lavender eyes. He was walking to the end of the parade.

'NO, NO!' the jinchuuriki was getting desperate and he was a few more steps to reach the end of the parade, and he greatly feared the girl had been taken. Then it's pointless to come here and he would have to pick up a random girl, a lucky girl.

The blond noticed the corner in the third row back in the first column there was a girl with silky fair skin and dark blue hair was standing keeping a low profile as she kept her head down.

"You, in the corner there, lift your head so I can see you." He demanded aloud, desperately wishing the girl was the one he's been looking for. The girl with dark blue hair flinched but lifted her head at this elite shinobi's command and showed her pale lavender eyes.

The pale lavender eyes were more beautiful than the ones he saw in his memory.

'I have finally FOUND you, Hinata-chan…' Naruto inwardly signed in relief and joy. He was fighting the urge to embrace her now. All other girls dropped their heads in disappointment as the renowned shinobi picked up the quietest girl.

"You, come forward to me."

The Raikage, B and H were alarmed when they saw him picked up the Hyuuga girl, as they were both from Konoha. The Raikage even stood up from his seat, but they decided to watch this scene further to understand the situation. The Namikaze-Hyuuga incident mastermind carefully looked at the memory suppression seal on Naruto's left arm and found it's still intact. Then they saw Naruto walked around the girl and took a few sniffs of the girl which confused everyone.

B smirked, "Well, I think it's the fox's chakra is influencing him. I think Naruto is looking for a mate, and the Hachibi confirmed it." This explanation made the Raikage amused.

Hinata watched uncomfortably as this blond shinobi walking around her, she was very nervous and afraid. Today was probably going to be her "graduation day". However, the kidnapped Hyuuga noticed his deep sky-blue eyes and the whisker marks on his face, she felt some sense of déjà vu: a very familiar boy she knew when she was very young. The Byakugan girl watched him sniffing around her, which made her more uncomfortable and blushed.

The jinchuuriki watched her blushed and smiled, "I will like to take her as my mate." He quickly covered his mouth after he realized, and the A-B Combo burst out laughing.

"_Kurama, what the hell was this talk you made?_" Naruto asked embarrassingly in his mindscape.

"**Relax, kid, it would make them believe you.**"

"It's quite alright. It seems the Kyuubi's chakra influences your mind and body more than we anticipated. I think a book on kitsune's natures would be good for you." A laughed before he turned to listen to the conversation between his brother and H.

"There is no seal on slave, but we have made sure every one of them was loyal to Kumo," H was proud at her job. "All slaves have been brainwashed with all the drama and training we put them through."

The Raikage and B nodded. "Good choice and she has a bloodline limit which means you can make your clan more powerful with your 'mate'." The Raikage laughed at his choice of words. This was rare for the Raikage to let out a laugh which many didn't see often, he was in a very good mood after he saw Naruto's Kyuubi mode and he was excited at the thought of the potential combined powers of Namikaze, Uzumaki and Hyuuga. As long as Minato's boy's memory was still suppressed, there was nothing to concern about.

B laughed too, "Funny that we kidnapped them and they end up together, but it was even funnier that he said mate."

The Raikage nodded but he wanted to make sure everything would be fine. "Tell Samui and Karui to bring H's kit to Naruto's house as a pretext to check Naruto to see if he follows the rules."

Naruto had good hearing and smelling senses, but he kept it as a secret from everyone, and he overheard what that gori said and he was alarmed. But it's a necessary risk to take to save Hinata.

B raised an eyebrow, "You mean bath together, eat together, and sleep together? Come on Bro, it's too early. There are rules and steps to follow to create a psychological chain on the girl to be loyal to her master. She knows what to do and Naruto will do it."

The Hachibi jinchuuriki assured his brother to grant and helped Naruto to get what he wanted. He knew Naruto the most. Seeing that the Kyuubi's influenced him had made him very intrigued.

"Man, sucks for you," Omoi held his slave in his arm, "I got a busty chick with a hot body, and you just picked a slim girl with an oversized shirt that drags on the ground."

True what he said, each girl had an oversized ragged shirt, and Hinata had a particular long one. Naruto rolled his eyes and ordered his slave.

"You, stay still." Hinata did what she was told and Naruto began to roll and pull her oversized shirt, making it tighter on her body. When the shirt was skin tight on the Hyuuga, Omoi stopped laughing as he looked at a nine years old girl's figure with a pair of small breasts growing.

"She is still young, but I have no doubt she will be busty one day. B-sensei, you and I like big boobs: TITTIES!"

The blond grinned foxy and lecherously and he let out a perverted giggle. B was laughing very hard as his prized student finally appreciated female body in this way.

Hinata and the other slaves blushed in embarrassment and were shocked at their favoured blond's behaviour.

XXXXXXXXX

In Konoha, far away from Kumo, a certain grey haired jonin sneezed, as well as a long white haired spymaster sneezed while he debriefed one of his spies.

"Are you all right, Jiraiya-sama?"

XXXXXXXXX

The perverted manner Naruto spoke was actually to help him to complete his personal goal here: finding and saving Hinata without raising too much suspicion. It seemed this antic paid off; the Raikage seemed to buy it as it looked like he picked Hinata out of perverted behaviour.

"I'm sure she will give me many children to restore my clan with new bloodline limit and in the future there will be many powerful shinobi from the Arashi clan fighting for Kumo," Naruto dropped his right knee as he started to manipulate A's ego, "Raikage-sama, with your permission, may I come here again to get more slaves to have more children, for the good of Kumo?"

"Granted." A smiled and was glad at his devotion for the village, and it would easier to breed many combined powers of Namikaze and Uzumaki. "But why don't you just pick up another one or more today?"

Naruto made a plausible excuse, "Raikage-sama, as you know I just recently access the Kyuubi's power and I need to train and to access more. I am afraid I don't have the time to take care and discipline more than one slave currently."

The Raikage understood. "I see, well, you can come to pick up another slave every six months."

"What? How come Naruto can get many slaves? Why?" Omoi protested enviously.

"It's because he is the last Arashi, and he needed many girls to help restore his clan." H explained.

"All right, as you both have had your slaves. You should go to the hospital for medical instructions." The Raikage dismissed them and left with B.

"Hai! Thank you, Raikage-sama!" Naruto looked at Hinata, Omoi and his slave, "Let's go to the hospital."

XXXXXXXXX

While Omoi was ecstatic that he finally had a slave to screw with in the future, Naruto maintained his perverted mask. However behind his mask he was disgusted with this slave program. His male teammate always enthusiastically talked to him about having slaves.

The jinchuuriki detested the idea and the new Kumo system, which was enforced by the Fourth Raikage with an absolute iron fist, but…he could only silently agree this with his teammate. Even B and Yugito had to keep their mouths shut, or he would have severe consequences.

XXXXXXXXX

_FLASHBACK_

_Two Hours Ago_

Naruto came to visit Yugito's house, "Hi Yugito-sensei, long time no see!" He greeted in cheerful tone.

"Likewise, Naruto, what brings you here?" The Nibi jinchuuriki offered a cup of tea to her fellow jinchuuriki.

"I just came back from the Turtle Island with B-sensei, and I have finally accessed the Kyuubi's chakra!" He didn't come here to brag about it. Actually his visit was actually to see if he could gain some information from Yugito.

Just as Yugito wanted to congratulate Naruto, there was a soft knock on Yugito's door and revealed an ANBU with a message, "Naruto-san, the Raikage and B-sama wanted you to be at the Slave and Breeding Facility in thirty minutes." The order made Yugito flinch and Naruto noticed it.

"Are you all right, sensei?" Naruto asked purely concernedly.

"I became a jinchuuriki at the age of two," Yugito confided. Naruto nodded as he already knew this information. She continued. "Because I am compatible with the Nibi. If I was not and I was unable to become a kunoichi I would probably become a sex slave because I am infertile."

"Well, probably serving you or B is not bad," Yugito joked a bit and Naruto choked his tea and she continued and changed into a serious tone. "But my best childhood friend was not that lucky. She wasn't even allowed to be a kunoichi by the Third Raikage because she had a bloodline limit and she was forced to breed that bloodline limit with a senior member of the Golden Horn Force. But she committed suicide by immolation before she was taken, to preserve her honour and to prevent her eggs from being harvested."

"I am sorry to hear that," Naruto offered his condolence. "But couldn't you use your status to save her?"

"No, I couldn't, not even B could help it, particularly the current Raikage has started his Ten Year Plan." Yugito said sadly. "Although we jinchuurikis held high ranks here, but we could be overridden by the higher-ups as we were viewed as tools and have no right to make decisions, even B would face something far worse than Iron Claw by the Raikage. FAR WORSE."

"I see….Thank you for this cup of tea, Yugito-sensei." Naruto gently put down his tea cup on the table and stood up and bowed. "Excuse me I have to go now."

Yugito knew what kind of person her young fellow jinchuuriki was. "Naruto," the boy turned back to face her, "I know you are a nice man, and I have no doubt you will treat your slave well."

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded. He understood and would of course do it. On the other hand, he started to think Yugito and B were not involved in his and Hinata's abduction based on what she said and the look in her eyes. Now, after learning his true identity, Naruto was angrier ever towards this program. When the time came, he would not stay silent about this anymore and he would liberate the slaves.

_FLASHBACK ENDS_

XXXXXXXXX

_Kumogakure General Hospital_

Naruto signed his name and requested for a female doctor. He had heard rumours that some male doctors exploited opportunities to molest female patients with their filthy hands. Turning to Hinata, he still restrained himself to embrace her, but he could see in her eyes that she was coming close to recognize him, as she was staring at him and wondering.

"Sshh…wait until we get home." Naruto held his right index finger on his lip and whispered to his new "slave". There were many people in the hospital and he didn't want to draw attention and couldn't afford to be exposed.

"Arashi." A female doctor called Naruto's fake surname and gained his attention.

"Here." The Arashi promptly raised his hand, before he and Hinata followed the doctor.

"So she is your first slave?" There was a seductive smirk on the female doctor's face and her words made his blood boil talking about Hinata like that.

"Yes, and we are here to take the examination."

The doctor commanded Hinata to get on the table. Naruto seethed his teeth as he disliked the way she treated Hinata.

"From what I gather, she has the Byakugan, a dojutsu. She will be given growth and fertility pills to help her body mature in the proper way."

Seeing how nervous Hinata was, Naruto smiled to her trying to calm her down. "Well, you are a lucky one. She is growing quite well," the doctor continued checking Hinata's body for any abnormalities. "She is in good health. She will have to take the pills for the next few years. Girl, now off the table, it's your master's turn."

"You are healthy as well, Arashi-san, I am sure you will give Kumo many strong ninjas in time," the doctor remarked after finishing examining Naruto's body. "I will also give you growth acceleration and fertility pills, and when you and your slave reach full puberty you can stop taking the growth pills, you still need to take fertility pills though. Please come back here every three months to get a refill."

Naruto nodded as he understood and now it's his turn to ask questions. "I see many people come to take their pills here, even my teammates have started taking them, is it possible that there would be a shortage of pills, I wonder?" Seeing the doctor nodded, Naruto continued. "I am always out of the village taking missions, you know, there might be a chance I will miss to refill if there is a shortage." Naruto pretended worried. "When does the pill shipment always arrive first? So I can get them first in the line hence I can have a steady refill every time."

"This is the Kumo largest hospital hence the shipment arrives here on the first day of month. In fact this hospital is also a hub which later distributes the pills to smaller hospitals and clinics. In case this hospital runs out of the pills, you might have some chances at smaller clinics where other shinobi frequent. This hospital is too busy here."

'So the shipment always arrives here first? Then I might have a chance to trace it back the pill manufacturing plants.'

Naruto raised another question, "Raikage-sama has granted me to have another slave later in order to restore my Arashi clan. I might have a slave without a bloodline limit. Are the pill prescription different for people without bloodline limit? I just want to be careful so we won't take the wrong pills. I don't want to take female growth pills and a year later find out I have breasts!" he joked comically but secretly he was trying to gain information which could be used later.

"Pills have nothing to do with bloodline limits, but it's true they are separated by genders," the doctor explained patiently. "The male fertility pills and female fertility pills are in different colours: blue and red respectively, where the growth acceleration pills for male are in black and for female are in white."

Naruto got up and bowed slightly to show his gratitude. "I understand, thank you. She is my first slave and I don't want to fail Kumo while missing some important information."

The female doctor rolled her eyes in amusement. "With you high stamina and extra one from the Kyuubi, I say when you are twelve or thirteen years old you will make her scream your name, even some full grown women too. You know, I don't mind to help you to restore your clan." The female doctor talked seductively to Naruto, who just smiled with a blush and bowed to the doctor.

XXXXXXXXX

Hinata was waiting patiently while Naruto was still talking to the doctor.

"Chick, what are you doing here?" she turned around and saw two strange men walked up to her, making her timidly poke her index fingers and stutter. "I-I am waiting for my master."

The two men smiled and laughed. "Well, guess what? How about you become our slave instead?" One of them grabbed Hinata's arm to pull her ignoring Hinata's protests. The man soon felt a sharp blade on his neck and his partner also had a kunai on his gut.

The whole area dropped about a few degrees, Naruto was reeking of massive killing intent and a light yellow aura started to appear around Naruto. "**Take your hand off of her! NOW!**" his dark and angry voice made everyone present shivered. The two men realized they were messing with the jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi.

"**Do it now or I will make you to remove your hands!**"

The men did what he was told. A few shinobi guards appeared in the area asking what happened. "These two tried to steal my slave." Naruto spoke in normal voice but he's still furious.

The guards heard this turned to the female doctor who checked Naruto and nodded to support his claim.

"Very well Arashi-san. We didn't know you got a slave." The guards took the offenders away. Naruto turned to Hinata, he could see underneath she was still scared despite she looked relieved.

"Come on, let's go home." Hinata tilted her head and was worried what her master would do when they arrived home.

XXXXXXXXX

_Naruto's House_

Naruto had sent his shadow clones to purchase groceries and all necessities for Hinata including clothes, when they were in the hospital. They finished their tasks and put all the stuff upstairs and had even made Hinata's room ready.

When they arrived home, Naruto immediately activated his privacy seals around the house, and he turned to Hinata and embraced her.

"Eep!" The girl was startled by her master's actions.

"I have finally found you, Hinata-chan." Tears were flowing down his whiskered cheeks. But Hinata still didn't understand why her master did it.

"Naruto-sama, why did you do this to me?" This shocked him. He realized Hinata still didn't recognize who he was and she treated him like her master.

"Hinata-chan, can't you remember me?" He hold her shoulders firmly and looked into her pale lavender eyes. She shook her head.

"I remembered bits and pieces, but you looked very familiar with the little boy who has sky-blue eyes and whisker marks in my childhood memory."

"I AM that boy, that was six years ago and we both grew up, Hinata-chan. I am Naruto Namikaze and your full name was Hinata Hyuuga. You are not a slave. You were born from a noble clan in Konoha, just like me." The blond was trying to bring back more of her memory.

"Your parents were Hiashi Hyuuga and Hitomi Hyuuga. You have an uncle named Hizashi Hyuuga and an aunt named Hannah and a cousin Neji whom you looked up as an elder brother, because your father and uncle are twins. Me, you and Neji we three used to play together and had lots of fun." Naruto looked at her and it seemed her memory was slowing coming back. Just a few more strong memories to convince her.

"Do you still remember I fought and got beaten by two old men in your family while trying to help you? Later I pranked them by sneaking lots of frogs into their rooms while they were asleep and it scared the hell out of them? In the end I got reprimanded by your parents in front of you?" Naruto desperately tried to bring back her memories using these events. It seemed to work, they rang the bell in Hinata's head as she remembered those screams that woke up everyone in the compound by his prank.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto vigorously nodded and rejoiced with tears in his eyes he finally brought back Hinata-chan.

Hinata saw his nod and glomped on to Naruto. "It is you, I can't believe it. We are still together even here!" She was crying in joy.

"They didn't give you a seal? I guess they just brainwashed you and forced memories into you." The fuinjutsu genius suspected.

For the first time in a long time Naruto and Hinata could say they were happy and they were together. They embraced for three minutes and broke out. They knew they couldn't stay like this forever, because Naruto remembered Samui and Karui would later come to check them.

"You are my best friend. However you are still a slave in this goddamned village until we escape, if we need to get out of this village alive you still need to pretend to be my slave publicly. However I will use my high rank status here and power to protect you, so that hospital stunt won't happen again." Hinata nodded as she understood they needed to hide their true relationship.

"Let me show you the house first." The lonely jinchuuriki was happy that he had a family member in the house and he wouldn't be alone.

While showing Hinata his, no, their house, Naruto created twenty strong shadow clones and had them henged into different people. He ordered all of them for form two groups to go to both regular shinobi and archive libraries respectively. Knowing what to do the clones in the libraries would shapeshift again into books to conserve energy until the libraries closed, and resumed reading and searching in private. The archive library might have some evidences about the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident or other Kumo's information.

'However most of the classified information should be in that Raikage Tower, I will find a way to access them.'

Naruto asked his fox friend. "_Kurama, how much will those pills affect me?_"

"**I think not much, because my chakra can break them down faster than they can metabolize in you. But a small amount would get through. However, hearing what the doctor said, I will decrease my charka flowing into your system to prevent that from happening. I will resume giving you more of my power when you hit puberty and stop taking the growth pills.**"

The jinchuuriki nodded to agree. If the pills failed to do their purposes, they would give him a higher dosage; beside he wanted to grow with Hinata.

Hearing a knock on the door Naruto grumbled. 'Samui and Karui are here, courtesy from the gori.' The door revealed them with a storage scroll H issued to Naruto and Omoi.

"Hi, Samui and Karui, you are the one to deliver H's kit? I am very surprised she asked you girls to give it to me." He greeted them and he noted they didn't look happy. "Huh? What happened to you guys?"

"You and Omoi have your own slaves, and we SAW his slave and he is now having his pleasure with his slave as we speak now." A very annoyed Samui handed the storage scroll to Naruto and he nodded appreciatively.

"If Omoi comes to us and brags about how wonderful the pleasure he had, I will put my fist on his face. Very hard." Karui was shaking her right fist furiously and Samui nodded that she would too. Naruto laughed nervously.

'Suck to be you, Omoi…'

Hinata's slave mode instinctively kicked in. "Would any of you want tea or coffee?" Both kunoichis asked for tea.

"Why is your slave wearing a robe?" Samui asked.

"I gave her a robe because the shirt she wore in the facility was ragged and dirty. She isn't wearing anything underneath the robe." Naruto answered. He knew they would give the gori and B reports about him for the next few years and he might be watched. However it was the risk he was willing to take to save Hinata from that horrendous place.

She was satisfied with the answer and turned to Karui who shrugged her shoulder. "Oh, so you guys are going to go to bed tonight? We didn't know you were going to break her in." She smirked as she saw Naruto blushed.

"Well, not like that, but maybe in a year or so. I mean I would rather do some other activities first." Their fellow blond teammate licked his lip seductively and let out a perverted giggle, which gave them goose bumps. "And, you guys don't like me to brag about this like Omoi, do you?" He smiled inwardly knowing they didn't want to know about his activities, all thanks to Omoi. He would use on their dislike on perverseness.

"Well, who would have thought you'd like to give the girl their share of fun? Good job, since some men think only they can or should enjoy the act themselves." The busty blonde noted it's often in Kumo kids in their age already doing these types of activities.

"Oh come on, it's not all about that. I mean I want kids someday but also a good relationship."

Karui hearing this raised an eyebrow, "Yet she is still a slave and she will perform her duties."

Naruto let out a sigh at Karui's retort as he sipped his tea. "True. But I want a healthy good relationship and probably a family as well. Just like B-sensei, he treats his slave as his girlfriend and a family. We jinchuurikis want to have families and it can still meet the Raikage's demands anyway."

"I see, well, I think it's time to go home. My brother is waiting for me." The girls got up and Naruto nodded while Hinata bowed. Both girls smiled seeing that Naruto got a good slave.

After watching his female teammates left, Naruto closed the door and turned around, and was shocked to see Hinata was starting to disrobe herself. He dashed to Hinata as she was about to expose her breasts and put on her robe back.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto asked.

Hinata was nervously playing with her fingers, "A-Ano, I was trained to do a lot of things and I know what I must do tonight…and after what you said to your teammates." Her face was in red.

The Namikaze held the Hyuuga's shoulders with both of his hands and looked straight into her eyes. "Hinata-chan, what I said to my teammates was to protect us. You are NOT a slave, you are Hinata Hyuuga. You are my friend. You don't need to mind any of those dirty talks I have with anyone. I lie and do it for our sake. You and I are nine years old, we shouldn't….."

He could see she was still in her slave mode, even she finally remembered who she and he were. He sighed. "Hinata-chan, anyway, you have your own room and it is upstairs to the right. I have it prepared for you. You can go take a shower. Dinner will be ready when you finish your shower."

Walking upstairs Hinata thinking of Naruto with admiration and she wondered how her life was going to be.

While Naruto's shadow clones were cooking for dinner, he was in his study room and he gritted his teeth angrily as he punched a wall. It was going to take efforts to break Hinata out of that ridiculous slave shell.

'I have to reverse the training she went through and I will find a way….'

He opened up H's storage scroll and it revealed a rack, whips and other BDSM equipment, and the blond sweat-dropped and groaned. He still needs to set them up in a room to look like he did train and discipline his slave.

Naruto began his next plan. 'I strongly suspect most of the slaves there were also kidnapped too, I need to get closer to the Kumo leadership to dig out evidences, but I doubt that gori would give me a council clan seat with an excuse about my age and the Arashi clan was fabricated. I am going to join the Kumo ANBU: to search for evidences and to know more about the gori's Ten Year Plan.'

XXXXXXXXX

_Konoha_

_Hyuuga Clan Head's House_

Hiashi was with his wife Hitomi and they were looking outside the windows.

"I wonder where they are." Hitomi wiped her tears and her husband nodded sadly. For the past six years Konoha and they have been searching for their daughter and Naruto.

Hitomi held herself. "I miss Hinata and Naruto, and Hanabi deserves to have her older sister around."

"I know, so do I…but we must have faith and hope that someday they will come back and we all can be a family." Hiashi held his wife to comfort her, knowing how hard this was for her. When she found out she was pregnant with Hanabi only a year after the incident, the elders of the clan were joyous that the Hyuuga clan would have a new heir to replace the missing Hinata and it seemed they did not care about their eldest daughter.

Since the massacre of much of the Uchiha clan and its decline, the Hyuuga elders took more power in the clan, as in their words to assist Hiashi on clan matters, because the Hyuuga clan was the most prominent and the most powerful one in Konoha. Hiashi, however, felt he was gradually losing his power as a clan head.

For example, the elders had strongly "advised" they would personally train Hanabi so Hiashi and Hitomi could take care of other more important matters.

All of the Branch house members were sad that their beloved heiress was missing. To make matters worse, the elders last year unanimously named Hanabi the new heiress of the Hyuuga clan without Hiashi's consent when Hanabi had her three years old birthday party. The Sandaime blatantly rejected the elders' petition to take over the Konoha military police job from the Uchiha clan, due to the Caged Bird Seal and the suspicion that the elders might be involved in the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident. The Hokage, and many other clan heads and many jonins wondered how the kidnapper infiltrated the Hyuuga security with their all-seeing eyes. The only reasonable conclusion was that someone inside helped it, but the question was who.

"It wasn't easy for me to survive the birth. It felt like I was fighting against Shinigami himself to stay alive." Hitomi was happy that she survived giving birth to Hanabi. She shuddered to think what if she did not survive the birth before she learned Naruto and Hinata were found and came home safely. "Wherever they are, I hope they have each other."

"Me too." Hiashi couldn't agree any more.

XXXXXXXXX

_Midnight_

_Konohagakure Gate_

Hiruzen Sarutobi and more than fifty of his loyal ANBU were secretly waiting for the Takigakure group and their Konoha guides, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, to arrive here. All the gate guards were replaced by ANBU and a large perimeter was set up that no one else could be here, not even the village elders. Only his two loyal students, Jiraiya and Tsunade, and the major clan heads from the shinobi council were aware of this negotiation with Takigakure. The village elders including Danzo were kept in the dark about the negotiation and the meeting. This was an S-rank secret for the welfare of their guest.

The Konoha group's patience was rewarded with their counterpart's punctual arrival. The Takigakure group was led by its village young leader Shibuki. The two village leaders bowed to each other and exchanged greetings.

"Please take care of her, Sarutobi-dono." Shibuki requested the Hokage sincerely, and then the kind Taki leader turned to a girl with green hair and orange eyes in his group. He gave a gentle hug to the girl. "I wish you have a happy life here, I am sure there are people here will love you."

Sarutobi was very reluctant about this. He did not want to see another child with a great burden as an ultimate shield for the village, or something worse if Danzo found out about this girl. This painfully reminded him of his surrogate grandson, and he and Jiraiya were still searching for him.

Konoha, however, was at a great peril without a jinchuuriki as the world was possibly at a brink of another great war based on some disturbing intelligence. Tensions were gradually rising between the three major superpowers, Konohagakure, Iwagakure and Kumogakure, and Jiraiya was still working to find out the reasons behind. Anyway the hidden Leaf village desperately needed a jinchuuriki replacement. The Sandaime Hokage extended his arms to the girl as she now became a citizen in Konoha.

"Welcome to Konoha, Fu-chan."


	6. Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Beta: AnarionRising27

* * *

_Two Years Later_

_Uzushiogakure_

'This is where mum was born and had lived before she moved to Konoha…' Naruto slowly walked through the ruins of Uzushio. He was pondering over how sad his mother must have been when her hometown was overrun and destroyed, and everyone here she knew of and loved were all killed. Naruto couldn't help but shed a few tears as he could feel his mother's sorrow and pain when she saw the photos that described its destruction, as Kurama described his mother's distraught emotions.

Over the two years as a Kumo ANBU, he gained more information and befriended several people who secretly held deep grudges against the Raikage and his Ten Year Plan, because they all lost wives, sisters, or daughters due to that stupid breeding project. With all the hormones and drugs and unknown ingredients found from the medical knowledge "recovered" from those wandering medical-nins. The project and the pills forced women to conceive and to carry children. Birth complications became very common in Kumo. Yet every professionals and the leadership in Kumo insisted they were simple difficult births and had absolutely no connection to the forced project used on the mothers. Even his old genin team leader, G's wife was one of the victims.

Bullshit. Birth fatality increased at least threefold since the project's introduction, the Kumo leadership truly didn't give a fuck about the risks and people's life. All Naruto's friends were deeply worried for their daughters when they hit puberty and had secretly planned to leave Kumo with their families. Through G's introduction, the blond became acquainted and befriended someone called Seikan whose family had created a secret tunnel to evacuate from the Cloud village in the last war due to fear of a possible enemy invasion. Naruto and his friends decided it would be used to escape the Cloud village.

Yesterday Naruto came to observe the Fire Country's eastern coast and decided it would be their best landing place for their escape from Kumo to Konoha. It was the closest way to reach Konoha. The coast was also conveniently close to Uzushio. He decided to come to visit here, with several purposes.

Before Naruto carried out his secret mission and was visiting his mother's birth place, he created a high level shadow clone to do his current ANBU mission in his stead. A high level shadow clone was the strongest type of shadow clone with intelligence which could take heavy punishments and would not dispel easily. It was unlike the original low level shadow clone which dispelled with one or two hits. When a high level shadow clone realized he was about to dispel, he would immediately find somewhere secret and safe to dispel and notify the original Naruto to continue the mission, hence he clandestine actions would not be exposed.

All of the Uzushio collapsed buildings were worn out and covered in vines, and it was so quiet and so peaceful. The village was a ghost town and had become a wildlife habitat. The place was still beautiful though even Kurama was awed.

"**This place is very nice. Probably one day I will seclude here...**" Kurama commented and Naruto smiled to his fox friend.

It was the first time Kurama came to Uzushio. His previous host, Kushina, had tried to return to visit her birth village, only to be thwarted by ambushes by who were after the Whirlpool Princess and the last Uzumaki. Then, she was embroiled in the bloody Third War and fought fiercely and gained the moniker Red Death, while her husband gained the moniker "Yellow Flash". When the war was finally over and was pregnant with Naruto, Kushina had planned to visit Uzushio after Naruto's birth. But the Whirlpool Princess tragically never returned and saw her birth village again alive.

'Maybe one day I will bring your ashes to let you rest in peace here, mum.'

The Uzumaki clan was a very large clan due to their longevity, but it was almost extinct just because of fear and greed. Naruto could sort of understand those architects wanted to prevent a sixth superpower rising and a stronger alliance with Konoha, but it was the hunger for more power he couldn't forgive them for.

The Uzumakis used their longevity to their advantage to research and develop their techniques in various areas, and they were very powerful. According to the Kumo achieve Naruto learnt, the Combine's attack only met the objective to destroy Uzushio, but failed to obtain the Uzumaki's techniques. The blond strongly suspected that gori Raikage would one day send him here with a group of Kumo-nins, and the escorts would "discard" him for secret sake once Kumo got the Uzumaki secrets and his children, as he wasn't the last Namikaze and Uzumaki anymore when the gori had his children.

The Uzumaki finally reached his destination: **The Holy Garden of the Uzumaki Clan**, based on the Kumo achieve. The garden was still very beautiful despite it had not been tended since Uzushio's destruction. The Combine didn't come all the way here for botany and tourism. They were after the secrets hidden in this garden. Naruto found a palm-sized spiral seal hidden in red roses based on the Kumo archive. He put his hand on the seal. He didn't realize the seal was razor sharp, and it cut his hand to identify if he was an Uzumaki by blood.

'Never mind, I heal fast.' The Jinchuuriki simply shrugged off.

A corner in the garden rumbled and opened a secret door which revealed a tunnel, and the tunnel was littered with skeletal human remains and shuriken and kunai, and other booby traps. These booby traps activated when a non-Uzumaki entered here. At the end of the tunnel there was another door with another seal, and there was an Uzumaki's remains lying next to it.

This Uzumaki's face was smashed, Naruto guessed this person was dragged here and the Combine soldiers smashed his face on the seal to open the gate.

The blond touched the seal and didn't mind being cut again. The second door opened, and it revealed a large hall which showed signs of brutal fighting. There were 23 skeletal human remains. The blond identified twenty of them were Kumo shinobi, namely the Golden Horn Force, based on their headbands and the insignia on their uniform. The other three remains had the Uzushio headbands and they killed and stopped the infamous Golden Horn Force at the cost of their own life.

If Naruto was correct these three Uzumakis closed the second gate to trap the Golden Horn Force from escaping back to the garden. Without its elite force, and the incoming Konoha reinforcement, they had to give up this objective and left. The Konoha reinforcement just came to recover the bodies and gave them proper burial.

'That was the only thing they could do.'

Kushina's son deeply bowed to those three Uzumakis' remains with respect, "Your sacrifice was not in vain, for you protecting the third and the final gate." He gave them another deep bow. "Thank you."

Touching the seal on the third gate, it revealed another hall, which safeguarded all the Uzumaki's treasures. At a corner of the gate laid a scroll with a swirl seal, Naruto bit his thumb and put his bloodied thumb on the seal which revealed a letter.

XXXXXXXXX

_My dearest daughter Kushina-chan,_

_The promised Konoha reinforcement won't make it in time, our inner defence seal systems were finally breached by the Combine's brutal attacks. They have deployed the investment tactic, even Konoha reinforcement arrived in time…We are doomed to fall._

_This is our Uzushiogakure's Last Stand. I am so glad I had evacuated as many non-combatants as possible beforehand in foresight. I entrust you the Uzumaki heirloom sword which is passed down from our clan founder: the Arashi._

_I have created and entrust you a special ruby, which would help you to find those scattered Uzumakis and their descendants, may you one day revive the Uzumaki clan. The ruby was put next to the Arashi._

_Now I can hear the enemy flooding the village gate with war cries and chanting for our blood; our last defence is going to fall very soon. I am going to give them HELL before I die._

_Farewell. Your family and I always love you, my cute little daughter._

_Your father, Kenshin Uzumaki_

XXXXXXXXX

"Haha…" Naruto chuckled lightly with a tear, which he wasn't sure it was amusing or sadness, and but he did find it coincident that the treasured Uzumaki sword and his fake surname shared the same name. Finishing reading the letter, Naruto began to explore the hall, which did not only hold the two treasures Naruto's grandfather mentioned. The hall was also a library, a treasury, and an armoury.

The centre of the hall displayed a katana, and it was the Arashi. Naruto picked it up and swung it around to examine the sword in awe. He looked closely at the Arashi. It was made by a chakra metal alloy fused with strong but some unknown type of metal. The sword was indeed a very sharp katana and it certainly was one of the most powerful blades in the world. It surely surpassed the swords used by the Seven Swordsman of the Mist.

The jinchuuriki decided he would not use it, not until he, Hinata and the other slaves escaped lest it was discovered and "confiscated" and he and Hinata would suffer worse fate. He picked up several standard katanas, some other weapons and armours and training equipment from the armoury.

"The bows and arrows will be a perfect present for Hinata-chan."

Closely examining the Uzumaki katanas Naruto found that they were better than his Kumo ones in quality, now he didn't need to bother replacing his broken blades. He would just replace the Uzumaki crests on the swords with his fake Arashi clan crests when he got back to the continent. Kushina's son took most of the Uzumaki's things, including the scrolls, the sacred Arashi sword, the ruby, and lastly all of the gold bars in the treasury. He put them all in different storage scrolls. The gold bars would be useful for helping to fund the escape. Once he reached the continent he would use them to buy safe houses and a large enough ship.

He gave a proper burial for his four fellow Uzumaki clansmen and gave them a final bow with respect, while he simply dumped those Combine's corpses in a mass grave. Later he made the ruby as a necklace and wore it under his shirt.

Naruto gave one last sad look at his mother's birth village, the Uzushiogakure, before he left for the continent and rendezvous with his shadow clone.

XXXXXXXXX

_A Week Later_

_Kumogakure_

Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and Asuka were chatting and doing grocery shopping and they were waiting for their "master" Naruto to come home tonight. They all wore kimonos with the Arashi crests, so no one would come to bother them, however it didn't spare them from the glares from people. Actually they were jealous glares at the last Arashi's harem.

The last three girls were kidnapped at older ages and had memory suppression seals until Naruto removed them and helped them to regain their identities. The girls had bloodline limits with Lava, Explosion, and Boil respectively.

One night Naruto snuck into the Slave and Breeding Program Facility to gather the slave information, because Naruto and Kurama suspected A could place a few moles among the slaves to let Naruto pick up. However they found something shocking instead: Kurotsuchi, granddaughter of Sandaime Tsuchikage was here.

Sayuri was also from a noble clan in Iwagakure and her father was the commander of the Iwa's elite Explosion Corps. Asuka was from the Water Country, and fled the bloodline purge at the urging of her elder sister who had recently started a rebellion there. Asuka, however, was smuggled to the Cloud village by a shipping company instead to a safe haven. Well, the last Arashi's protection became Asuka's safe haven in the Cloud village. Naruto would one day like to meet Asuka's sister who had the courage to rebel against this inhumane genocide and the powerful Fourth Mizukage.

The third Kumo jinchuuriki was shocked and furious when he learned the Sandaime Tsuchikage's granddaughter was kidnapped as well and put into the Slave and Breeding Program as well. Sayuri's father was the third in command of Iwagakure, after Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi's father. Hinata could still remember Naruto's angry rant at the Raikage when he learnt Kurotsuchi was also in the slave facility.

"Are the gori and the Kumo council not afraid to become molecules by the Fence-Sitter's Dust Release?"

The Cloud village would not fear reprisal from the Yondaime Hokage because his father was long dead, but Onoki the Third Tsuchikage was still alive and healthy and so were Kurotsuchi's and Sayuri's fathers, who were also formidable opponents. Many of the slaves here were refugees from the Water Country and Kumogakure exploited it greedily. The Namikaze concluded Kumo had gone far insane and was completely unforgivable.

The blond used his harem pretext to save and protect as many girls as possible. Hinata remembered that Naruto once confided to her and deeply regretted he could not get all of them out of that facility until the day came. He had taken too many risks and he believed he was watched.

"Hi, Naruto's slaves." Samui and Karui greeted them with little respect.

Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and Asuka turned around to see them and immediately bowed, "Hello, Samui-sama and Karui-sama." The girls knew Naruto's former teammates were spying on them.

"Today Naruto will return home from his ANBU mission, won't he?" Samui asked. She and Karui were trying to ask some questions from his slaves when he was away. "I bet Naruto can't wait to come home to have time with you?"

"Yes. Before he left, he mentioned he will do something on page sixty-nine on the book." Hinata answered with respect. The Hyuuga was asked by Naruto to answer that before he was away from his current mission.

Samui and Karui both blushed.

XXXXXXXXX

_FLASHBACK_

_Two Years Ago_

It had been three days since Naruto and Omoi had their slaves. B, Samui and Karui were watching their fellow male teammates having kenjutsu spar, wind against lightning. Naruto and Omoi clashed their swords one last time which ended that Omoi's blade broken in half.

Naruto looked at a dent on his katana and sighed. 'Great, even I have to get another one again.'

Despite being able to stop the lightning chakra which vibrated on his opponent's sword with his wind ability, it still came at a cost: his own sword was slightly damaged. Naruto had to find a way to solve this problem otherwise he couldn't fight a group of shinobi with lightning release without changing swords in the midst.

"All right, today training is over. Dismiss. We will meet at nine tomorrow morning." B got up and left for home.

As the four students were walking towards a dango shop for some snacks and tea, Naruto produced a book from his pocket and began reading it. Even while walking in the street Naruto's eyes never left his book, and to their amazement Naruto didn't bump into anyone.

"What are you reading, Naruto?" a curious Samui asked. Naruto gave her his book. She and Karui began to read and soon blushed at the raunchy passages.

"Why the hell are you reading this smut?" Karui shouted and violently threw the book back to the owner who easily caught it and resumed reading. Had Naruto been annoying to them like Omoi, they would have given him a proper beating.

"I got a slave. This book provides a lot of good ideas how I should do with my slave, I will follow the book to have my time with my slave." Naruto flipped to a certain page with a perverted giggle. "Tonight I am going to do THIS with her based on this page." Omoi burst out laughing when he read the page.

"Erotic massage? WOW. It's not bad." Omoi whistled excitedly. "Well, tell you what, tonight I am going to have a…" He didn't finish his words because Samui and Karui punched him and sent him flying to a nearby wall.

"Don't ever talk about it again, neither do you, Naruto." The girls glared at him as they now learnt what Naruto would do with his slave every night based on smut. Kami, Naruto became a pervert pretty much like their sensei and Omoi.

"Whatever." He inwardly he smiled that he misdirected the gori's spies.

_FLASHBACK ENDS_

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto asked the girls to just say page number sixty-nine in his absence when they were asked by his former teammates. Samui and Karui would get the answers and the hidden meaning, much to their embarrassment and annoyance, and they would not question any further. His slaves wouldn't blush because sex was their job for their master.

Another advantage of it was that Hinata and the girls didn't know about the book Naruto and his teammates were talking about: sex. It would slowly remove Hinata and the other girls from the sex subject, and let them focus on the ordinary girl stuff.

The jinchuuriki cracked their slave shell slowing by giving them normal girl life in his house, while outside they pretended to be slaves. Inside Naruto's house, they were given free reins to act and decorate with their respective rooms and were always given simple normal presents, such as dolls and flowers, every time he returned home from a mission.

However, the jinchuuriki stopped to pick up any more slave for a few reasons. More slaves meant more chance of slip of tongue and a possibility the gori might place a mole as a slave to watch over Naruto. Kurama totally agreed on both points. When the Raikage and H asked when Naruto did not come back to pick up his fifth slave, the blond answered he was too busy with the ANBU missions and the training to control Kyuubi.

He would pick up new slaves next time. All of them.

XXXXXXXXX

_Midnight_

_Raikage Tower_

Naruto deliberately picked up this time to return to Kumogakure because the Raikage and most of the tower staff were at home and were asleep, except three security guards.

"Fox-san, it is extremely late now," one of the guards said to Naruto in his ANBU mask, "The Raikage is asleep, you can meet him in the morning."

"I have an urgent message for Raikage-sama," Naruto spoke in his ANBU tone. "I have to meet him now."

"All right, I will go and get the Raikage. For your health's sake, this better be good, Fox-san." the guard was reluctant and fearful of the Raikage's wrath. "You can go to the Raikage Office waiting area."

Good, there were only two guards left, and the ANBU walked into the building and hurried to the waiting area outside of Raikage Office. The gori would arrive here within three minutes, but he had a plan. The Namikaze created a high level shadow clone.

"I'll stay here as a lookout and you know what to do."

The clone nodded and immediately went into the Raikage office. Once inside the room, the high level shadow clone immediately made several hand signs to cast the secret Namikaze space-time technique, which made the time flow inside being twenty times slower than the outside. The Raikage and the original Naruto would come into this office an hour later instead of three minutes.

The Namikaze space-time technique was taught by Kurama to Naruto, he and Kushina saw Minato demonstrated his Namikaze space-time abilities before. Once the space-time technique was deployed, the clone created fifty extra clones and instructed them to find and read all the classified documents, even secretary Mabui's files. After finishing reading the files and put them back, clones would dispel one by one.

The original Naruto was anxiously waiting outside, nervous at the risk he was taking. He stiffened as memories returned to him one by one, firstly the names of culprits in Konoha responsible for the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident.

'Those stuck-up Hyuuga elders and those civilian councillors…'

'There are extra copies of the classified documents, including top secret intelligence reports on foreign countries, are hidden in the secret basement safe in the archive library. Good, I now know the security seal code.'

Another memory returned to him, 'Samui and Karui have reported nothing unusual to me with my slaves and we all behave accordingly, except I am a hopeless pervert with horny thoughts. They blamed this on B-sensei and Omoi. Hehe. Good. Let them think it that way.'

Another memory returned to him. 'The gori's memo written by Mabui...WHAT? The doctors have reported that me, Hinata-chan, Kurotsuchi-chan, Asuka-chan, and Sayuri-chan will complete puberty in exact twelve months…the gori wishes their pregnancies this year to gain the combined powers of theirs and mine, what an impatient asshole…but fortunately they do not want to risk their pregnancy at 11 years old at half-puberty, because their bloodline limits are the most invaluable, and it is also based on the advice from B-sensei and the doctors. The gori suspects B-sensei's advice is to protect me from being heartbroken if I lose them at child births, but the gori reluctantly accepts it because I might release Kurama, because even the Hachibi couldn't hold Kurama.'

'But they expect their pregnancies when we complete our puberty, as there are lesser risks in full puberty, otherwise the gori will give them to other bastards and replace them with new slaves to 'comfort' me. BULLSHIT! They really treat slaves as property? Anyway, they will give us one month as an ultimatum when the doctors confirm we are ready…'

Memories returned to the original Naruto one by one, and the information he gained became more disturbing.

'This year marks the eighth years of the gori's Ten Year Plan….At the start of the tenth year I will have to learn the Flying Thunder God technique; the gori estimates it will take me one year to master it. Once I do Kumo….'

"NARUTO! THIS BETTER BE GOOD!" The Raikage roared in his **Lightning Release Armour** as he stormed to the waiting area and broke the entrance door.

The whiskered blond immediately snapped to attention and was surprised: he never expected A would come here in his Lightning Release Armour, unless he's in battle or he's angry. The gori arrived sooner than expected. He dropped his right knee to salute A.

"Raikage-same I have tracked down the target and recovered the object." Naruto was buying time for his clones to return all the files and dispel before the Raikage and he entered his office. A's scowl turned into a big smile and he turned off his armour.

"Oh? Good! Come into my office."

Naruto was extremely reluctant to give this power hungry bastard another powerful weapon, but he had to in order to gain information. On the Raikage's table lied the head of one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist Raiga Kurosuki and his Kiba swords.

"Excellent! Naruto. You did another great service to the village." The Raikage's foul mood turned 180 degrees; his village had become more powerful with this legendary weapon. "In the morning I will get Mabui to forward Raiga's bounty and an A-rank mission payment to your account." Naruto bowed.

"Thank you, Raikage-sama."

The Raikage yawned, "Well, we should go home and hit the sack. I will get a guard to store the swords."

Naruto nodded. A had used and examined the swords to authenticate them before he left them to the guard, but he didn't bother to check the swords' sheaths.

Inside the sheaths hided Naruto's small tracker and improved explosive seals, the latter which could be remotely detonated at his command.

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto was walking quickly towards his home. "_We can't afford to fail our escape, Kurama._" His fox friend agreed.

The last information Naruto learnt in the office was that once Naruto mastered the Flying Thunder God technique and he gave the Cloud village babies with Hinata and the other girls…as they were the final phases of the Ten Year Plan, Kumogakure would start a global war.

**The Fourth Shinobi World War.**

It all made sense to Naruto now, he now knew the purposes of every large scale military training drill he partook, each which involved at least five thousand shinobi in forest, desert, or beach environment. Kumo had been training its soldiers for war, and Naruto would be a frontline general with the Flying Thunder God technique.

Of course the minor villages would be attacked too, but the superpower targets on the war plan were Leaf first, then Sand, and lastly Mist. Cloud would use the strategy of Conquer and Assimilate, which forcibly enlisted vanquished nations to its ranks and two to three years later they would march towards Iwagakure, the last and the strongest superpower left, which had the best natural mountain defences. The world would be united under the Kumo's banners.

All would hail A the Raikage.

The Namikaze-Hyuuga incident created the Ten Year Plan, which paved the way to this potential Fourth Great War.

XXXXXXXXX

_Naruto's House_

Hinata was reading a medical scroll and was waiting for Naruto to come home despite it being very late. All the girls except Hinata were already in their rooms and asleep. Her 'master' bought a bigger house when he got his fourth slave, and the old house was too small to fit many people.

The house had a little basement room, which was the entrance to a secret training ground. Naruto used his secret Namikaze space-time technique to create a dimension and built this training ground for the girls, who had keys to access the dimension. Naruto believed had they not been kidnapped they would be at their village training to become a shinobi and a kunoichi.

Naruto asked whether Hinata was able to activate her Byakugan which she found she could, and then he asked her what she could see: she could see through object and individual's chakra system and some distance. Here Naruto came out with an idea. He provided his shadow clones, which also had their own respective chakra system as training dummies before he got the real ones. Hinata started to train with senbons, followed by shuriken and kunai.

She fondly remembered the first weapon throwing training using senbons. He was holding her right forearm and their faces were very close to each other to help her correct her aim and pose to launch senbons properly. The Byakugan girl blushed and found out his hands were very warm, and her heart was beating fast, but the boy didn't notice because he was focused on helping her to become a kunoichi.

Naruto was very patient, and never berated her for any mistake despite his was a powerful shinobi with high rank, not like in that slave facility and the Hyuuga compound. He would encourage her to do better and to improve with experience. When every time Hinata succeed, Naruto would congratulate her heartily.

Naruto saved and protected her and the other girls from Kumo and helped them to regain their true identities but who protected Naruto from Kumo? With those gruesome trainings at the age of three, and brutal missions and the tremendous mental stress for the risks he took to protect them, he always persevered and endured. Even during their time in Konoha, Naruto had the courage to challenge and fought her elders. She felt admiration for him and she wondered if she began to fall for him…

There was a very soft sound from the door as not to disturb the sleeping residents, Naruto came home.

"Welcome home, Naruto-kun." Hinata came to greet him.

"Hinata-chan? Thanks." Naruto was surprised but appreciated her for waiting for him to come home, which warmed his heart. "But why did you stay up so late?"

"I am waiting for you, although you arrived home later than expected, but I killed time by studying up on my medical knowledge." Hinata pouted.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan, the situation demanded it." Naruto sheepishly apologised while rubbing the back of his head. "I have brought presents for you girls. I will give the presents to Kurotsuchi-chan, Sayuri-chan and Asuka-chan in the morning, but I can give you your present now."

"Hinata-chan, every time we have checked we find that your Byakugan visual range increases as you grow, right?"

The boy displayed his clan's bows and arrows. "With these and your Byakugan, I will teach you the arts of archery. I am sure you will become one of the most powerful kunoichi in the world. You will one day surpass the legendary Tsunade."

XXXXXXXXX

_Next Year_

_Konoha Academy_

Sasuke Uchiha wore his Konoha headband proudly. To him it was considered a step closer to killing his brother and avenging his father and his clan. To his annoyance, however, he was surrounded and pestered by his fan girls asking for dates, including Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, the two top kunoichis in his class. Sasuke just simply ignored them and walked off with an "Hn" and his hands in his pockets.

So cool. The girls squealed.

Sasuke looked at his other fellow classmates who were from major clans. Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi were chatting while the latter was munching chips. Kiba Inuzuka was playing with his ninken Akamaru. And lastly Shino Aburame was also talking with the mysterious girl Fu. To his relief, Fu was the only female classmate who was not a member of the Sasuke Fan Club. Probably she was taken by the Aburame.

Anyway it's good, one less girl who would distract him from gaining more power. However, he noted Fu had some sort of a "secret admirer", another classmate Sai who was always looking at her.

This pale Sai was another mystery, who always gave people creepy smiles and annoying nicknames. To his frustration he was always called "dickless" by Sai before the angry fan girls unleashed their fury on him, much to his male classmates' amusement. Ino, on the other hand, was torn between because she was called "gorgeous" while her crush was given an unfavourable nickname.

He walked out of the academy building and saw his mother holding a crutch and waiting for him just like other parents for their children. The crutch was a bitter reminder of that night, which left many of his clansmen dead including his father, and his mother crippled mobility.

Sasuke Uchiha would one day make his brother pay for this with his life.

"Mum, I am the Rookie of the Year." Sasuke claimed proudly and happily to his mother and Mikoto Uchiha smiled proudly for her son's achievement.

"I'm very proud of you, Sasuke-kun!" Mikoto dropped her crutch and kneeled to hug her younger son. "I will cook your favourite meal tonight, Sasuke-kun, let's go home."

As the Uchiha mother and son left, Mikoto turned her head and looked at the academy building one more time. She dearly wished Hitomi was here too and picked up her daughter and Kushina's son.

XXXXXXXXX

_Late Evening_

_Naruto's House_

**Crash!**

A violent sound just came from Naruto's study room. All the girls rushed to the source of the sound. After the dinner and clean up, their 'master' went to his study room one hour ago while all of the four girls watched television or reading girl magazines and happily enjoyed time together.

Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and Asuka were stunned to see the study room: it was a complete mess. A bookshelf in the corner was broken and fell on the floor. All books and scrolls were scattered across the room, and Naruto was sitting in a corner holding his knees and was trembling violently. He was biting his lower lip deeply, which was bleeding. His right hand was clenching tightly on his left chest, and was breathing irregularly. He looked like he was desperately trying to prevent something flowing into his heart.

"What happened, Naruto-kun? We are very worried." Hinata was deeply concerned and she walked towards him.

Naruto still kept his head down and maintained silence.

"Naruto-kun…." Hinata's two hands gently lifted his head up, and she gasped when she looked at his eyes. There was no determination, spirit and strength what she admired him for. What used to be in Naruto's eyes were replaced with sorrow and grief.

Pain. Hinata realized that Naruto was desperately trying to stop more pain flowing into his heart.

"Kurotsuchi-chan, Sayuri-chan, Asuka-chan, let me talk to Naruto-kun alone." Hinata asked the girls who nodded and left.

"What happened? You can tell me."

Naruto was still silent.

"Please…Naruto-kun."

Naruto was still silent.

"Please…Naruto-kun. I am here with you."

Then Naruto Namikaze broke down and cried in front of her, and she gently wrapped her arms around Naruto's body to comfort him. In front of Hinata Hyuuga this man was not a powerful and tough shinobi, but a boy in despair and he certainly needed helps. The blond could not stop the tears flowing from his eyes.

"Naruto-kun, please tell me what happened…" Hinata pleaded. Suddenly she was embraced by Naruto. Hinata was surprised and was nearly frozen, but she embraced him in return and Naruto began to explain with tears.

XXXXXXXXX

_Thirty Minutes Ago_

_Naruto's Mindscape_

Naruto was discussing the checklist on the escape plan with Kurama.

"We will take action on the night of the Kumo's Foundation Day, which is two months later. The gori's ultimatum will come in two months too, but it is pointless and we don't need to worry about. We will be long gone by then. The gori can go fuck himself then. There will be fireworks, and we can use them as distraction to cover our escape and most of the Kumo shinobi will be relaxing and low on guard. We can take them by surprise. There are many tasks we need to do. I will deploy Mass Shadow Clone Technique."

Naruto continued. "The targets to be destroyed: The power plants to cause panic and confusion, the pill plants, the Raikage Tower which serves as a command and communication centre, the sperm and eggs storage facility, the Research &amp; Development centre, the Kumo armouries, especially the ones which store explosive seals. They can cause more panic and confusion."

"The targets to be neutralized, there are six groups of people needed to be neutralized: the Golden Horn Force, the ANBU, the elite jonins, the Raikage, the guards, and the Kumo jinchuurikis, B-sensei and Yugito-sensei. The former three always congregate at their respective places on the Foundation Day evening which make it easier to neutralize them altogether. Guards at every station will be neutralized too. My ANBU status will catch them off guard. The gori, B-sensei and Yugito-sensei always stay at their homes…but I'll neutralize them too." Naruto said regrettably when he thought of his two teachers whom he looked up to as a brother and a sister. But it had to be done.

"Recovery: Take the Kumo's confidential documents, especially about the abductions, and the powerful weapons they put in the safe, including the Kiba swords and my father's kunai. Most importantly liberate the slaves, and our friends will gather their families. After leaving the evacuation tunnel, we will rendezvous with Honoka-chan and Tayuya-chan at the Lightning Country's southern port with the ship. I will go and check up with them one month later under the guise of a mission."

Three months after Naruto went to Uzushio, Naruto ran into them respectively during missions while the ruby radiated and heated as it detected an Uzumaki. The common trait of Uzumaki was their red hair. Naruto rejoiced to find his fellow Uzumaki survivors and had asked them to dye their red hair to hide their Uzumaki identities, and then entrusted them the safe houses and a big ship he bought.

"Lastly, yesterday I dumped the water supply with certain ingredients, it was harmless, but not with the ingredients in the male and female fertility pills. Combining the ingredients from two sources would turn takers sterile. I have told the girls and our friends prior to stop taking the fertility pills; otherwise they will be sterile too. They are the first priority targets. That's pretty much all." Naruto concluded, while Kurama just yawned and was impressed what the boy would do.

"**Kid, what you are going to do will make us Tailed Beast look good**." The fox grinned.

"Those motherfuckers had it coming. Besides, I only destroy their infrastructures and minimize the casualty.

"**Too bad I can't see that gori's face when he realizes you put those stuff in his exclusive vitamin supply.**" Kurama burst out laughing and Naruto smiled mischievously.

"**Talking about the growth pills, you and the girls have reached complete puberty.**" Kurama noted.

True, Naruto and Hinata and the other girls Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and Asuka all had recently completed puberty. Now Naruto was 166 centimetres tall, and Hinata was 160 centimetres and she had grown a long hair to her waist. All the other girls were 160 centimetres tall too.

"**Shouldn't you spend some time with her now? Hinata has a feeling for you in case you haven't realized it yet,**" Kurama's note made the blond raise an eyebrow. "**Just look at how much she cares for you and every time she blushes when you are close. And I can see you have begun to have the same feeling for her, I understand, since you two have been together and very close very long.**"

"**Well, I can teach you a technique not to impregnate your girlfriend,**" The fox grinned and offered. "**And I promise I will close my sense connection with you. You can have your own little privacy.**"

"Ero-Kurama," Naruto muttered with red face. "She is not even my girlfriend."

**"Well,**" Kurama said. "**You can ask her to be, I am sure she will agree. You want a family, don't you?**"

Naruto blushed again, yes, he did want a family…but that's too embarrassing and he wanted to change the topic. There was an idea came into Naruto's mind as he always kept forgetting ask Kurama about this.

"Kurama, there was one question I kept forgetting to ask you."

"**Oh? What is it?**"

"I know my parents died sealing you into me, did they have some last words to me?" The jinchuuriki was very curious.

Kurama's eyes widened. "**Yes,**" Kurama answered vaguely and honestly. He knew Naruto could detect lies and he dreaded this when Naruto brought up this question. But it finally came.

"**Minato and Kushina said they loved you very much.**"

"Is that all? Well, I wanted to see their final words to me in visual! Can I access this part of your memories to know what they told me, please?"

"**NO!**" Kurama rejected fervently. "**There was no need.**"

"Kurama, I want to see it and why there was no need?" Naruto wondered at his fox friend. "I know my parents died sealing you into me, and I don't blame you. So what are you afraid of?"

The boy only knew the vague detail that Minato and Kushina died sealing him, but Naruto didn't know the specific detail. The fox didn't want Naruto to see his parents' bloody dying moment, because he had a hand, no, a claw, on his parents' death. The murderer feared he would lose Naruto's friendship and gained hatred against him.

"Fine, when we get back I could ask the Hokage if there was any other witness there, and with a Yamanaka's help to provide me a visual view." Naruto pouted as he had an alternative way. Kurama's eyes widened again, there was no way to hide the fact. It's better sooner than later to know it. It couldn't be helped.

"**Well, touch my left hand and I will let you see it…..**" The blond's parents' killer reluctantly offered his left hand. He was about to show Naruto the cruellest fact in his life.

"Thanks!"

XXXXXXXXX

"I am so sorry for your loss, Naruto-kun" Hinata offered her condolences. Naruto could hear Kurama kept apologizing for his actions that caused his parents' death.

"**I am so sorry, Naruto…**"

"No, Kurama, you don't need to apologize, you were not responsible for my parents' death." Naruto spoke and both Hinata and Kurama could listen, and he looked at the ceiling while tears were still flowing down his whiskered cheeks. "Your claw attack didn't kill my parents because they were already dead…Mum was dying when you were ripped out of her by Madara Uchiha, and dad was already dead using the Dead Reaper Seal which took his soul. They just used their dying bodies to shield me." Naruto sniffled. "And I can understand why you wanted to kill me: freedom. If I were you I'd do the same thing….I don't blame you Kurama, for real. I blame Madara Uchiha for all of the miseries he caused to me and the Konoha villagers."

A grieving Naruto continued. "If he didn't commit this atrocity, my parents wouldn't be taken away from me and many families won't be broken…The villagers wouldn't blame you and me."

Kurama remained silent, but he lowered his head apologetically and thankfully for Naruto's forgiveness.

Naruto took Hinata's right hand and place it on his face as it could calm him down. Hinata used her right hand to stroke Naruto's face and comforted him and she wiped away his tears with her left hand.

"I finally know my parents' last words to me, Hinata-chan. They also talked about girl, a girlfriend…" Naruto smiled sadly. "I am so glad to have you by my side, Hinata-chan. You saved me from loneliness and filled the hole in my heart..."

"Me too…You changed me, and you saved me from that horrible fate and you saved my soul," Hinata smiled. "Naruto-kun…."

"I know I will have to ask your parents, especially your father…but will you be my girlfriend when we get back to Konoha?"

"Yes, I am very happy to be your girlfriend, Naruto-kun."

"I love you." Both said the three little words. The sky-blue eyes met the pale-lavender eyes, and they kissed passionately.

Naruto was emotionally exhausted. Hinata helped Naruto walked back to his bedroom, and put him on his bed, and put one of the Naruto's sleeping seals on him to let him have a long peaceful sleep. She kissed his forehead and left his bedroom, and went back to talk to the other girls before went to clean the study room.

XXXXXXXXX

_Two Months Later, Late Night_

_Eve of the Kumogakure's Foundation Day_

_Naruto's Bedroom_

It's very late now, all the residents in the house were supposed to be asleep, because tomorrow was going to be their big day. Except Naruto who was finalizing the plan with Kurama.

"Tomorrow there would be fireworks for the Kumogakure's Foundation Day and we will provide extra fireworks, in our way and for free." Naruto smirked. Kurama smiled and laughed. For all the victims Kumo made suffer, Naruto Namikaze would unleash his Wind of Justice and liberate the Kumo slaves tomorrow evening.

"**Nervous?**" Kurama could see his host's uneasiness.

"Kind of, yes. Some of the plans are not always carried out perfectly in their intended ways, you know." Naruto replied in deep thought, based on his past mission experience.

"**Relax, kid, everything will be fine. We have planned this for years.**"

"Kurama, I have a favour to ask from you." The nine-tailed fox raised an eyebrow at the seriousness at his host's tone.

"In case the escape plan somehow fails and we are surrounded and are about to be recaptured by the Kumo forces, I will release you…Promise me you will protect and help the people and take them to safety, especially Hinata-chan. I really want Madara Uchiha to answer for his crimes too, but the people are more important. Also please incinerate my body lest any Namikaze-Uzumaki serves this despicable village."

Kurama was shocked and stood up in disbelief, "**You gotta be joking, Naruto! We will definitely succeed!**"

"No, I'm not joking. There is no guarantee this plan will 100% succeed, especially this was against the most powerful village with its Kage and two powerful jinchuurikis: B-sensei and Yugito-sensei in case I fail to neutralize them. Even if I am recaptured I will be tortured and executed eventually. And you will be extracted from me and put into another host. Yes, I'll die slowly in the extraction process like mum, but they will then immediately execute me and will desecrate my body. Releasing you at least guarantees most of the people freedom and safety, and you will be free too. It's a better way and I consider it a contingency plan and a failsafe."

"**NO!**" Kurama refused. "**What about Hinata?**"

"I know she will be heartbroken, but at least she will be safe. We do have a very high chance to succeed this escape plan, but there might be a slight chance we could fail miserably. This is the last resort to save the people. When the plan fails either way I am dead anyway, but at least this last resort is better. So, promise me..." Naruto pleaded. "I already have many chances to escape here by myself, and I can even do it only with Hinata-chan, but I can't leave these innocent people behind to suffer while Kumo hides them then denies these horrible crimes. Please, Kurama, I ask you this as a friend."

"**Fine…**" Kurama reluctantly agreed and muttered. "**But I am sure the escape will succeed…**"

"Thank you."

Since his father, the Rikudo Sennin, Kurama had never seen someone who cared so much about other people and their well-beings, even people whom he did not know. Kurama was surprised to see his father's silhouette flashed behind the blond. He blinked again and it's gone.

There was a soft knock on Naruto's room and Naruto left his mindscape to greet the guest at the door.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto was surprised when he opened the door and it was Hinata wearing a nightdress. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping now? You know what tomorrow we will be doing."

"Yes, I know, Naruto-kun," Hinata gently closed the room door and hugged Naruto tightly and got up on her toes as she kissed him. "I want to stay with you here tonight."

"What?"

"I am very nervous about tomorrow, if the escape fails and we are to be recaptured…" Hinata spoke. "Promise me Naruto-kun, you will use your Katon to destroy me to spare me the fate and prevent Kumo from gaining the Byakugan…"

"And, I want to spend tonight with you, Naruto-kun…" There were little red shades on her cheeks.

"Everything will be fine, Hinata-chan. Don't worry!" Inwardly Naruto was surprised. Hinata was also anxious about tomorrow and wanted to escape the horrible fate if the escape went wrong.

'Well, that makes one of us.' He felt himself hypocrite at his early discussion with Kurama, but what else was the best backup plan?

"I love you," Hinata kissed Naruto on the lips again. "I don't want to have any regret in my life." Hinata revealed that she wasn't wearing anything underneath her nightdress as she stepped back and let it fall to the floor, revealing her beautiful womanly body.

Naruto stared at Hinata's smooth white skin and her perfectly curved body. With his hormones and lust overwhelmed him, Naruto hugged Hinata lovingly and one of his hands began to gently stroke her long dark blue hair.

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto Namikaze and Hinata Hyuuga were making love. Had Naruto not activated his privacy seal in his room, other girls in the house would certainly wake up by their sounds.

Kurama kept his promise. The fox shut down his sense connection with Naruto not to infringe his privacy and Naruto used the technique that prevented pregnancy taught by Kurama.

On the bed and under the sheet, Naruto's strong body was on top of Hinata's, and his chest rubbed against her breasts. The sky-blue eyes were meeting the pale lavender eyes, then their lips connected as Naruto and Hinata kissed lovely and passionately. They caressed each other's body gently, feeling every curve and muscle of each other's body. As they continued their embarrassment and nerviness gradually vanished to be replaced with desire and trust.

When Hinata was ready, Naruto pushed through inside her and Hinata let out a moan in pain and a few tears came out of her eyes. Their bodies became one and they fit each other perfectly. Naruto continued thrusting inside Hinata's body as they consumed each other's emotions and loves allowing themselves to forget their fear of what tomorrow might bring. When they both hit their peak they were both drenched with sweat and were panting heavily.

"I love you Hinata-chan."

"I love you Naruto-kun."

Holding each other close; they both fell asleep on the bed. This was a night for Naruto and Hinata to remember, and no matter what happened tomorrow they would have no regret.

Tomorrow they would be free, in one way or another.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*The Third Kumo Jinchuuriki Arc ends here, and it begins another Arc. In the next chapter Naruto would unleash his Wind of Justice on Kumo for their crimes after the "fireworks", to make it bigger.

*Minato's and Kushina's chakra was a failsafe when Naruto almost broke the seal in canon. Here they were redundant.

*Due to the growth acceleration drug they took, Naruto and Hinata now had bodies similar in Shippuden.

*Hinata would not be pregnant, or she wouldn't be able to play important role in the future chapters. Canon Kurenai was pregnant and became unavailable to lead Team Eight.


	7. Winds of Freedom

Beta: AnarionRising27 and Lord Farsight

* * *

**Homecoming Arc**

_Next Day, 10:00_

_Kumogakure Forum Tower_

On the highest platform the Fourth Raikage was looking at the military parade proudly which displayed the Kumo's increasing might and power every year. In front of him were thirty battalions of five hundred shinobis and kunoichis each, the battalions marched one by one towards the Kumogakure Forum. They were then followed by Kumo's latest war machines.

Finally the best of the best: the Golden Horn Force. Since Naruto gained access to the Kyuubi's power three years ago, the Raikage came up with this parade idea. To satisfy his ego as well as that of the council, to solidify support from the council, and to increase everyone's patriotism, slaves no exception.

Most of the villagers and all the slaves must come to the Forum to celebrate the Kumo Foundation Day. Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and Asuka were all sitting in the slave section, looking up Hinata could see her Naruto-kun standing on a platform of the Forum Tower. When the entire military formation was complete, all shinobis and kunoichis snapped into attention and dropped their right knees to salute, and all villagers and slaves stood up from their seats and bowed.

"ALL HAIL KUMOGAKURE NO SATO!"

A and his councilmen smiled. "Magnificent, aren't they?" Tamiya asked in amazement. He was the councillor in charge of the pharmaceutical department, which was responsible for developing the growth acceleration and the fertility pills.

"Even Iwagakure doesn't do this kind of stunt." Kurotsuchi whispered and Sayuri nodded to agree.

"Sshh…" Hinata whispered in reprimanding tone. "Don't let anyone hear you say that!"

This year was the ninth year of his Ten Year Plan. The military parade was held on the Foundation Day every year, next year the parade would be bigger in number due to the baby booms, and next year they would display a new type of force that would surprise and inspire the crowd. Standing behind A were his Kumo councillors, and on the lower platform stood his six future generals including his three jinchuurikis; C, Darui, the Gold Horn Force leader T, his brother B, Yugito Nii, and Naruto Arashi.

In A's mind, he was the Commander in Chief of the Kumo forces, B and C would be his two main Chiefs of Staff. The Golden Horn Force would serve as the commandos, and Darui, Yugito and Naruto would become A's field generals leading the armies.

Two more years and the Plan would be complete with another twenty battalions.

Naruto stood impassively with his hands in his back, forcing himself to hide his disgust, as the gori gave out the speech about sacrifice, commitment, glory, and honour. Same old crap. Naruto thought bitterly. However this military parade did him a favour: many of the shinobi were exhausted from celebrating on this day.

'Their ego will be their undoing.'

Early this morning Naruto was told by A that he was expecting 'results' with his four slaves this month. 'The gori can go screw himself.'

A Naruto's high level shadow clone with a large storage scroll had snuck into the sewer network, and created an additional 100 low level shadow clones and split into two groups based on the underground infrastructure information. The first group went to the Kumo leadership's houses and the second group went to the armouries and other military installations.

The groups placed improved explosive seals **Havoc** on the top sections of the sewer and the manholes. Havoc seals would be able to blow with enough strength to crack the ground. Incendiary seals **Hellfire** were placed in the sewer as well.

The Havoc and the Hellfire seals were learned by Naruto from one of the Uzumaki technique scroll. These seals were invented and used during Uzushiogakure's Last Stand.

When all the shadow clones dispelled, Naruto struggled not to look sick by the experience being in the sewers despite the clones having cleared the sewers. The pleasant thoughts of him sabotaging the pills distracted him from the nasty sewer experience. Two months ago he had separated and dumped the sterilization ingredients into the pill plants and the water supply each month. The new pills had been slowly destroying the male's sperm and the female's eggs of the village, and no one had even noticed it yet. If Naruto was correct, at least over half of the people had been affected. Too bad people who hadn't been resupplied by the polluted pills weren't affected, but the pill plants would become history tonight.

'You can kiss your baby boomers goodbye, gori.'

There would be an evening festival district where most of the villagers would come and the district was not placed with any Havoc or Hellfire seal. Most of the Kumo villagers were innocent but those leaders were not, so many of the Hellfire and Havoc seals were placed around those leaders' living places. Not only for punishment, but it could draw as many shinobi as possible to help their leaders as a distraction.

They would be the extra fireworks on the Kumo's Foundation Day.

XXXXXXXXX

_18:00_

_Naruto's House_

Naruto, Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Asuka and Sayuri had finished their last meals as Kumo slaves quickly, and were finishing packing. Hinata was packing up Naruto's things too while Naruto was downstairs creating several shadow clones codenamed: Black, White, Yellow, Red, Orange, Grey, and Blue.

"Yellow, you go take care of B-sensei and Yugito-sensei and my old teammates." Naruto gave him two large storage scrolls.

"Black and White, you go to the power plants and pills plants respectively," he handed them each a large storage scroll. "When you gain entrance, you deploy your shadow clones and order them to place the Havoc seals over the machines and the buildings."

"After you blow up the plants, Black you immediately go to the Raikage Tower to collect the weapons, all of them. Then blow up the basement with the Havoc seals. Try if you can also get the classified files at your own discreetness." There was no harm to grabbing additional copies. The tracker seals on the Kiba swords indicated they and other powerful weapons including his father's Flying Thunder God kunai were stored in a certain basement room, and the information Naruto read last year confirmed their location. Several powerful underground explosions should be enough to level the entire Raikage Tower.

"White you go to the archive library secret basement safe to get all the confidential documents and destroy the library too. Use the Hellfire seals." It would make it look like the fire destroyed the confidential information files.

"Black and White, you put them into the scrolls, then immediately go to the evacuation tunnel entrance and hide them or give them to Hinata-chan if they arrive early. Remember, henge into that gori when you are near the places." Black and White nodded as they received orders.

Naruto looked at his Orange and Red. "Orange, you are responsible to the ANBU headquarters and the Research and Development centre. Red, you take care of the Golden Horn Force and the Egg and Sperm storage facility."

"Grey, go to the General Hospital, and send my regards to those doctors."

"Lastly, Blue, you will escort the girls to the Slave facility to liberate everyone from that place."

"The fireworks start at 2000, and at 2030 we will start our own fireworks." Naruto looked at Yellow, "You MUST complete your task before 2030 when the fireworks start and dispel to let me know the situation."

"All of you, except Blue, go!"

The shadow clones disappeared and went towards their respective targets.

XXXXXXXXX

_18:30_

As most of the shadow clones left except Naruto and his Blue one, the girls already finished packing and all went downstairs.

"Thank you for packing up my stuff, Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled. "You're welcome."

Naruto looked at the girls. "Ready?" All the girls nodded and he introduced Blue. "This shadow clone of mine named Blue will escort and help you to liberate H's facility. First of all, you girls go to Kimura's house and stay there. His house is the closet to H's facility. We'll commence our fireworks at 2030. You can start your task then when you hear my 'fireworks'. Anyway you girls must be at the tunnel entrance before 2300, understood?"

All the girls nodded again.

"I'll take care of the rest: the Raikage and the elite jonins, and the others. I'll see you at the tunnel entrance. Stay safe."

"You too, Naruto-kun." Hinata said and they both smiled to each other.

XXXXXXXXX

_19:20_

_Jonin Bar_

Naruto couldn't send a shadow clone to the bar, because of C, who was the best sensor of Kumogakure. C must be neutralized by Naruto personally. He saw C and Darui were sitting in a far corner with several other high level jonins when he entered the bar, and he was shocked to see the gori was here as well.

'Damn it, gotta change the plan…'

"Yo, Naruto," Darui was holding a saucer and took a sip. "Aren't you supposed to have a party with B, Yugito and your teammates?" The Raikage raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it's still early. Beside I bet B-sensei is rapping right now, I want to be a little late…" The Raikage and all jonins burst out laughing. The jinchuuriki took a seat and ordered a drink. "Raikage-sama, I thought you would be at Mabui's home to have some fun time?"

"Yeah I would like to. But she still has some works to do in the tower." A answered.

"Oh well, there is still some time left before the party. I don't mind to have some drink and chats with you guys before the party. Do you guys want to come to the party too?"

"Not if B will be rapping at the party." Everyone answered together.

"Haha," Naruto chuckled lightly.

XXXXXXXXX

_19:25_

_Kumo ANBU Headquarters_

"Greeting Fox-san." the ANBU guard said. "What are you doing here this evening? Aren't you supposed to be enjoying the festival or going to a party or something?"

"Yeah, I am going to go to a party later," Orange dressed in Naruto's ANBU uniform replied. "But I am here to pick up some of the stuff in my locker first."

"I see." The guard nodded and he let Orange entered into the headquarters.

The shadow clone walked quickly into the underground locker room. He placed many Havoc seals in his own locker and the lockers of those Naruto knew were currently away for missions. He also placed seals in every dark corner he could find. As he left the ANBU building, he saw the Kumo fireworks had started. It was now 2015 as he looked at his watch and quickly departed for the Research and Development Centre.

XXXXXXXXX

_19:50_

_The Golden Horn Force Barrack_

Commander/General T was now having a celebration party with most of his fellow Golden Horn Force members; the rest would come and join in later. The Raikage had increased the funds for his forces, and in two more years the Golden Horn Force would double in size.

"Hello Naruto…" T greeted as he and all the other party participants were slightly drunk.

"The Raikage ordered me to bring you this box of sake," Red said in a cheerful tone. "It is his present for your party."

"More sake! Good!" all the party participants cheered and began to take out the sake bottles from the box. "Give our thanks to Raikage-sama!"

"No problem."

Red put the sake box in a corner where all other garbage was placed. Unbeknownst to T and the rest of the Golden Horn Force members, the alcohol was spiked with tasteless paralysis drug, which would be effective later. Also, there was a fake cardboard bottom in the box, which was filled with Havoc and Hellfire seals. Furthermore, Red had secretly placed three more Havoc seals under the tables as he left the room.

Red raised his head and saw the village fireworks already started, it was 2020 now. He had to hurry to go to the Egg and Sperm Storage Facility, which was six kilometres away.

XXXXXXXXX

_19:55_

_B's House_

The house of the jinchuuriki to Hachibi was actually a mansion and was surrounded by high walls, which was perfect for Naruto's plan since people wouldn't notice it at first when the house was gone.

The fireworks had started. Yugito Nii, Samui and her brother Atsui, Karui and Omoi with his slave were in B's home, along with Naruto genin teammates J and K. They had all been invited by Naruto to come to B's place as he suggested having a party at B's mansion.

Yugito was massaging her temples, "B, it will be best if you can stop rapping and wait for Naruto's arrival."

"I hope B-sensei won't do any more rapping at the party..." Karui muttered. They already started the party and were having drinks and waiting for Naruto. There was a knock on the door, and Samui went to open the door to reveal Naruto, who was actually Yellow on Naruto's behalf.

"Hi Naruto! Where are your slaves, I was expecting you would bring at least one of your girls with ya?" Samui was curious. "You even asked Omoi to bring his slave here. I thought they would have come, too."

"They don't need to come. Actually I'm very thirsty. Can you take me to get a drink, please?"

"Sure." Samui led Yellow to the party room, and he was greeted by everyone.

"Everyone," Yellow raised his glass of drink high, and asked for everyone's attention. "I have an announcement to make..."

"I am Naruto Namikaze." Yugito's and B's eyes widened and were stunned and speechless.

"Namikaze? What is he talking about?" Karui asked in bewilderment. "Isn't his surname Arashi?"

"I am not an Arashi, Karui," Yellow shook his head. "B-sensei and Yugito-sensei will explain this to you guys, the crimes committed by Kumogakure. I am here to protect you and not to let you to get involved in this."

"What the?" J was confused as he looked out the windows followed by every Kumo ninjas turned to look and watched as the outdoor environment began to change. It looked like the house was quickly submerging. Outside four of the Yellow's shadow clones were standing at the four corners of B's house respectively, and created a dimension that the entire house was sinking into it.

"B-sensei, Yugito-sensei," Yellow looked at them sadly. "You have been a brother and a sister to me. I am very happy to know you, so I want you to stay out of this. I don't want to fight you." He put down the two large storage scrolls. "These two scrolls contain all necessities for you guys to sustain for five days."

The time in the dimension was twenty times faster. By the time B and the gang got out of the dimension, it would be three months later.

"There's a letter in one of the storage scrolls, you will understand why I do this. The heinous crimes this village commit cannot go unanswered," Yellow told them before he turned to look at Omoi to deliver Naruto's message. "Omoi, take good care of your…girl as a family like B-sensei does, or I will take action. Also, there is a karaoke machine inside one of the scrolls, the best model of this year," the shadow clone grinned mischievously before he dispelled. "Enjoy!"

"NARUTO!"

All of the Naruto's teammates yelled exasperatingly as they knew who would love to use the machine. Yugito was still stunned by Naruto's revelation, so was B. They were trying to figure out when and how Naruto regained his memory.

B's mansion was now in the Namikaze dimension and Yellow's task was complete. There was still two minutes till 2030.

XXXXXXXXX

_20:28_

_Jonin Bar_

Yellow's memory returned to Naruto, and he smiled inwardly as he looked at the clock: it was 2028 now. He casually put his right hand in a pocket to activate the detonator seals one by one. 'Time to begin our show, sixty seconds counting down…'

Naruto brought up another chat topic. "What's up with the rumours about the group called Akatsuki?"

C replied. "They are shinobi mercenaries. I heard Iwa and Suna have been employing them, because they accepted cheaper fees yet they can produce impressive results."

"Hn, Kumo doesn't need them." The Raikage grunted, but he hehewas pleased that even Iwa had fallen low and it wouldn't take too much effort to conquer them.

"It sounds kind of weird to me that a shinobi village would employ a shinobi mercenary group..." Naruto was in deep thought, "Shinobi villages are already considered mercenary groups. Outsourcing employs another outsource..."

Before the other jonin and the Raikage could explain, small explosions could be heard outside. People on the street saw the ground began to crack and manhole covers flew out wildly, and some of them crashed into nearby buildings. Many people quickly left the cracked grounds in fear of danger.

The bar's light was suddenly off as well as the entire street, which confused everyone in the bar, and some people even jumped. There were surprised yelps and confusion in the streets. It's totally pitch-black without the light in the evening while the Kumo fireworks stopped.

The pitch-black only lasted thirty seconds, and the light was replaced by the sudden bright light of huge explosions from underground, and large orange flames erupted from the streets. Anyone who was still on the streets was caught and consumed by the fire, as a multitude of high-pitched screams rose up in agony.

"THERE IS FIRE EVERYWHERE!" a villager screamed his lungs out when he saw most of the village was in flames.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" The Raikage shouted and got up from his seat, and stormed out of the bar to see the streets were burning and blasts were taking place everywhere.

The number of explosions and their scales were larger than Naruto's anticipation, and he stiffened as two memories returned to him. 'DAMN IT! RED AND ORANGE WERE CAUGHT BY THE EXPLOSIONS!'

"An invasion?" A concluded and he started to give out orders. The Raikage pointed to Darui and other shinobi who had water affinity. "You guys go to extinguish the fire!" he then pointed to Naruto. "I'll go get the Golden Horn Force. Naruto, you go to get B and Yugito, they should be at his home! C, I wanted you to get as many men as possible from the barracks! You tell those with water affinity to extinguish the fire, while the rest move to defend the gates! The rest of you go to the gates and wait for our arrival!"

Everyone got their orders and spread out.

XXXXXXXXX

_20:35_

_Outside the Slave and Breeding Program Facility_

Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Asuka and Sayuri donned the old Uzumaki armours and weapons, much to Kurotsuchi's and Sayuri's reluctance, Iwa pride, but Kumo now was a war zone. They could hear explosions and screams from every direction, and there were still explosions going off.

Hinata was extremely reluctant to come back to this horrendous place, but she had to. Only she, Kurotsuchi, Asuka and Sayuri could convince the girls there to leave, it was a task which man, even Naruto, couldn't do it.

"Byakugan!" Hinata activated her dojutsu. "There are four ANBU guards outside the facility and there are six female chunins inside, with H and her staff in their dormitory."

"All right, Hinata-chan," Blue said to her. "You can take them out with your archery skills. It's time for you to get some real combat experience."

Hinata realized what Blue said: her first kills, the idea of which caused her to shudder. Naruto believed she was currently at chunin level now, but the Hyuuga was now having doubts.

Blue noticed Hinata's hesitation with the idea of killing and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hinata-chan!" Blue shook Hinata out of her hesitation. "There are many girls imprisoned there. You can do it. Boss believes you can do it!"

Naruto believed in her and she could do it. Hinata took a deep breath calming herself before she raised her bow and shot four arrows to four respective targets with deadly precision. The arrows all hit the ANBU in the head and they all dropped dead without making a sound.

The bluenette felt sick at her first kills and was shaking staring at her hands, but was stopped by Blue. "Good job, Hinata-chan!" Blue congratulated her with a big smile. "Boss will love to see and hug you when you two meet at the tunnel entrance."

Hinata blushed heavily and all the disturbing thoughts were almost washed away. Blue turned to look at the other three girls who looked a little uncomfortable.

"You will get your kills inside the facility. I bet you have scores to settle, right?"

All of the four girls eagerly nodded.

"Let's go!" Blue waved for the girls to storm into the facility, after Blue created four shadow clones, and they went to take care of the ANBU bodies and transformed into them later.

XXXXXXXXX

_20:50_

Secrecy was one of important factors in shinobi life. Naruto hadn't even told any Kumo-nins he had the Fire Release from Kurama, and he had a third affinity: Water Release. Naruto could even use his water techniques with very little water available. This secrecy paid off when the Raikage didn't order him to join Darui in the effort to put out the fire.

The barracks and B's home were in the same direction, and Naruto had expected the gori would order C to rally more troops from the barracks. Jumping across the buildings to avoid the fire on the streets and even some weak buildings were starting to collapse. Naruto jumped down and saved a girl from a collapsing building which C nodded to as he saw Naruto placing the girl in a safe location. C and Naruto resumed going to their destinations, the barracks and B's place.

"Hey, C," Naruto waved his hand which got C's attention. "There was something in this alley."

They both dropped into the dark alley, and C was confused there was nothing.

"Huh? I don't see anything strange, what are…argh!" C's talk was cut short as Naruto punched him in the gut and put a sleeping seal on him.

"Had you not been a decent man, you'd be dead now." Naruto pulled the sleeping C into a safe corner and hid him in a dumpster.

'C is finally neutralized.'

Naruto touched the storage seal on his left arm, and it revealed a storage scroll. He donned his ANBU uniform and weapon pouches and put the Arashi katana on his back. Then he created three shadow clones: one high level and the other two in low level. The blond pointed to the high level one and gave him a storage scroll. "Orange, you go to take care of the Research and Development Centre."

Looking at the second shadow clone, "Henge into C and issue commands to the troops at the barracks to put out the fire and help the villagers to the shelters."

Naruto then pointed to the last shadow clone. "Henge into the gori and go to the ANBU headquarters and tell them to put out the fire and take the villagers to safety." He quickly jumped back to a top building and saw there were smokes rising from the directions of the ANBU headquarters and the Golden Horn Force barrack.

'Good, most of them should be neutralized. If I had known the gori would go to the Golden Horn Force there, I would have blown up the barrack with him in it… It is 2110 now; less than two hours to go. Going there will take at least 30 minutes and another 20 minutes from there to the tunnel. Time's short.'

XXXXXXXXX

_21:00_

The Raikage Tower was in chaos, all of the tower staff was terrified when they saw the flames and explosions covering most of the village, and to make matters worse, the tower had been rocked by explosions as well. Everyone was confused and in a panic, even some of the ANBU had become worried.

The culprit of the tower underground explosion, Black, henged into the Raikage and he rushed into the tower.

"Raikage-sama!" Mabui was finally relieved. "I am glad to have you here!"

Black was surprised Mabui was here but he maintained his composure. "Mabui-chan, there is no time. Evacuate everyone to the shelters."

"ANBU!" several ANBU appeared to await their orders. "Go help to evacuate the civilian to the shelters. I'll take care everything here myself. Don't question your Raikage! Now GO!"

After Black confirmed everyone was out of the tower, in the Raikage Office Black grabbed all the keys which were for the basement rooms. Black then hid several Havoc seals on the Heavenly Transfer Machine, and went to the basement room which stored all the powerful weapons.

There was no need to have the key, the explosion created a big hole. The legendary Kiba swords stood its name, despite the explosions, the swords remained undented. Black walked into the room through the hole and created a few shadow clones to start collecting all of the Kumo's most precious weapons: the Treasured Tools of the Rikudo Sennin, the Flying Thunder God kunai, and the Kiba swords. He placed all of the remaining Havoc seals on the basement room.

After finishing collecting the weapons, the shadow clone sensed there was still no one in the tower and hurried back to the Raikage Office to collect all of the confidential files. Secondary objective was complete, and he placed the Hellfire seals in the Raikage Office. He quickly left the tower and detonated the seals, and the great tower shook before it began to fall apart into burning wreckage.

Now his last destination was the evacuation tunnel.

XXXXXXXXX

_21:15_

_Kumogakure General Hospital_

_Sub Level Two Storage Room_

"Ugh…" the hospital director Ishii moaned as he was awakened by a sudden bright flash light. Ishii remembered last time he was having a violent stomach cramp at home when the Kumo fireworks rocked his delicate stomach and he rushed to the toilet but was then knocked out by someone there.

Ishii found himself bound and gagged and he was not alone. Looking around he saw that he was with his twenty fellow colleagues; there were even some of his female colleagues present. Most of male doctors including him had formed an unofficial little "Slave Molestation Club" and had always shared their sexual harassment experience with no shame. The doctor could smell all of his colleagues had foul smells wafting from their bodies and realized so did he; somehow they had all soiled themselves. They suspected their drinks had been spiked with laxative by someone.

A figure slowly came into the light to be revealed as Grey posing as Naruto. All the doctors were surprised and shocked and wanted to say something, but they were all gagged.

"I am here to deliver punishment for your crimes in the Breeding Project," Grey said in a monotone voice. "The labour processes on the slaves you all partook in and are guilty of."

One month ago Naruto had snuck into the doctor offices in night and read their files and journals, which revealed horrifying information which had greatly angered and disgusted the blond. Director Ishii's and some other doctors' journals contained disgusting personal reflections about how they enjoyed the labour processes on the slaves.

Naruto felt sick, and became sicker and more disturbed when he discovered more facts. The Raikage secretly changed his policy earlier this year. If the slaves were not impregnated by their masters within the deadlines or had reached twelve years old without a master; they would be brought to the hospital to be artificially inseminated. Naruto had shuddered violently for his new love Hinata but had never told her or any of the other girls of this horrible fact.

Another fact was that midwives were ordered by the doctors to immediately take away babies, despite even when young dying mothers tearfully begged to see their children at least once.

"Let me ask you doctors this: is it too much for mothers to see their newborn children at least once?" Grey asked on Naruto's behalf as he was fiddling a kunai dangerously and he looked at their widening eyes. "I know what you scumbags are thinking. You are thinking: If this kunai is a suppository, would Naruto shove it in my ass? Hmm…. **YES** for those of you who have taken such sick enjoyment you exploited in the project." Some of the male doctors paled and began to tremble.

"But all of you here are cruel and corrupted monsters for what you have done to those young mothers, and you will also receive your sentence for your crimes in the Breeding Project. I'm here to let you taste your own medicine."

All of the doctors paled. Today Naruto had sent Grey to deliver justice and to punish this scum who had insulted the noble position of doctor. Twenty more Naruto's shadow clones stepped into the light. They all activated the A Rank assassination technique: **Wind Claws** on their right hands. The Wind Claws technique was a twin wrist serrated blades of wind chakra, it was not only used for assassination but also for hand to hand combat. It certainly had no problem severing human hands.

The medical staffs were struggling to speak through the gags and were desperately trying to break out of their bonds but to no avail.

"You can beg as much as your victims did, and I will show you the same mercy you gave them." There was no emotion in Grey's voice. These doctors' eyes were full of fear and tears, and once again soiled themselves. "Rest assured. You won't die because we will cauterize your wounds, but your careers end tonight. You'll have to find a way to wipe your sorry ass for the rest of your life."

The privacy seals were already set.

"Here no one else will hear you scream."

XXXXXXXXX

_21:20_

_Slave and Breeding Program Facility_

Despite there was no Kumo-nin nearby, Blue was still on guard nevertheless. He was impressed by the four girls' performances. They dispatched the six chunin guards inside the facility easily, and subjugated H and the other facility staff and gave them 'proper punishment'. They were all truly at least chunin level now.

However he blushed and was more shocked when the girls and he busted into the slave-students' sleeping quarters. The slave-students were all lying naked on their beds.

'Boss isn't going to be happy about this.'

The slave-students were finally brought out of the facility, Blue created several shadow clones and they transformed into H, the chunin guards and the staff, to create a false scene to show the facility was still safe. Then Blue, Hinata, and Asuka first dropped into the sewer and made several hand signs.

"Suiton: Tidal Wave!" Both Hinata and Asuka shouted as the water in the sewer moved.

"Suiton: Great Torrent!" Blue shouted and a flood was shot from his mouth.

These two techniques washed away most of the unpleasant things in the sewers, ladder was set up and people started to descend into the sewer quickly. Blue served as the rear guard, while Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and Asuka led about one hundred and fifty slave-students to the closest manhole to the evacuation tunnel.

It's now 2140. It looked like they were going to make it before the 2300 deadline.

XXXXXXXXX

_22:10_

_The Egg and Sperm Storage Facility_

Naruto had entered the facility after quickly dispatching all the ANBU guards. He immediately created a group of shadow clones once he entered here. The shadow clones quickly spread out into the storage rooms and placed Hellfire seals in each of the egg or sperm storage tanks, and then placed Havoc seals along the walls of the building.

The blond stiffened as Black's and White's memories returned to him. "Good, they have rendezvous with Hinata-chan. All of the people have arrived."

But his face turned grim as he sensed a large spike of chakra coming towards here.

"He's coming." Naruto quickly prepared himself and set the timer counting down in 3 minutes.

XXXXXXXXX

_Five Minutes Ago_

A was in rage, and followed behind him were ten Kumo elite ninjas. He had found the Golden Horn Force had been blown up by someone when he arrived; most of them were dead and the rest were either maimed or paralysed. The commander, T, was among the dead. No one could tell who was responsible.

Naruto didn't come back with B and Yugito, and the Raikage thought he got knocked out by an explosion and sent another to find him, but the shinobi returned with a report that B's house had "disappeared". He couldn't believe it, and he ran to check it and it indeed vanished. All three Kumo jinchuurikis were missing along with Samui, Karui, Omoi and Team G members.

To make matter worse, someone was spreading rumours and panics there was a large number of unknown enemy forces marching towards the village gates. All of the available Kumo ninjas nearby moved to defend the village gates and were waiting for the impending attacks. There was little to no reinforcement from the barracks and most of the shinobi were struggling to put out the fire and helping villagers to shelters as ordered, but the latter contradicted A's order.

'What the hell did C do? Even C is missing now.'

There were flames and explosions everywhere, Darui and other shinobi with water affinity were ordered by the councillors to put out the fire around their homes. Worse, someone had been impersonating him giving false orders and created misdirection and further confusion, including the evacuation of the Raikage Tower. To A's horror the tower had become rubble and a past memory when he had arrived.

Kumo was in total chaos. The Raikage was relieved that H's facility was still safe when he sent a runner to check it and H and the ANBU were still there. Someone spotted Naruto was near the Egg and Sperm Storage Facility.

_What the hell is Naruto doing? Is he the culprit?_

As they ran towards the facility's entrance, there were explosions coming from below, most of the Raikage's group were caught in the blasts and were either dead or severely wounded. Even A's speed, his right leg was lightly wounded.

Mine seals: **Lotus**.

Only A and four of his ninjas had made it through the entrance, but they weren't even discreet when they stormed into the building. A's group was met with a Wind Release: **Shuriken Barrage** followed by a Fire Release: **Fire Dragon Flame Bullet** and only the Raikage narrowly dodged them and was lightly wounded again. The last four of his shinobi were mowed down or cooked.

Inside the building A saw Naruto there, reeking with massive killing intents and bloodlust, so massive that even A twitched a little.

XXXXXXXXX

"You?" A was in disbelief. "You are the one behind all of this? Where are B and Yugito?"

"So what? You are the one behind all the abductions," Naruto said coldly, "This doesn't even come close to making us even, gori."

"Gori, gorilla?"

"You can't see it when you look in the mirror? Actually you are even worse than animals, I might have insulted the gorilla species. Whatever, enough talking, I'm here to rectify my father's mistake in letting you live in the last war and to end your oppression. You don't need to worry about Yugito-sensei and B-sensei…They will attend your funeral." Naruto unsheathed the Arashi and took a swordfight stance.

"I will send flowers to your funeral."

A saw the Uzumaki crest on that katana Naruto was wielding, and the mention of his father, he connected the dots and realized it. "When did your memory suppression seal fail?"

"A dead man doesn't need to know it, gori," Naruto replied in venomous tone, "As I just said: I'm here to rectify my father's mistake in letting you live. You made many innocents suffer and die. Your tyrannical dynasty ends tonight."

Naruto swung his sword to create the **Vacuum Sword**, and a gust of sharp wind was released towards A, which he narrowly dodged.

The Raikage turned to glare at Naruto, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?" A shouted at Naruto, "MY TEN YEAR PLAN AND ALL THE HARD WORK IT TOOK ME?"

"How about all the innocents that suffered and died for your personal desire?" The jinchuuriki's sky-blue eyes turned to slitted glowing blood red orbs.

"You have ruined everything I have planned for years," A turned on his Lightning Release Armour, "I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH IT!"

"You kidnapped many innocent people with bloodline limits to satisfy your hunger for power. You made them slaves and breeding stock," Naruto turned on his **Wind Release Armour**. "You have gone too far in a time of peace to gain power, so far as to even enough kidnap children. You barbarian and your council are beyond forgiveness."

"**AS I HAVE SAID, I AM GOING TO FINISH MY FATHER'S JOB TONIGHT!**" Naruto roared in his demonic tone.

Naruto and the Raikage clashed. Lightning Release Armour offered faster speed through nerve stimulation, but the Wind Release Armour offered better offensive and defensive powers. A used his left arm brace to block Naruto's sword strike while delivered a powerful punch to his chest. The punch cracked three of the jinchuuriki's ribs and he coughed blood and flew backward, however A's right hand was also injured by the Futon Armour's razor sharp defence. Naruto was slowly healed by Kurama and Naruto for the moment held the advantage.

A roared and launched a **Lightning Straight** against Naruto, but Naruto's enhanced reflexes quickly allowed him to move aside and counterattacked with a katana stab in wind release to A's torso. The Raikage narrowly dodged it, but there was a deep cut on his left arm.

Explosions started to rock the whole building and it caught both sides off guards, but A was horrified and shocked to see the storage rooms were all ablaze. His precious eggs and sperm were on fire.

His plans for the Kumo future were burning.

"NOOOO!"

"**Finish him now, Naruto! DO IT NOW!**" Kurama shouted.

Naruto charged in at full speed to deliver a deadly blow with all of his strength, and Kurama's chakra focused through the Arashi, to end A's regime once and for all.

'DAMN IT!' Naruto cursed as A shook himself out of his stupor and dodged Naruto's deadly strike towards his heart, but Naruto immediately struck again.

"ARGGHHHHHHH!" The Raikage screamed in pain as the katana's strike cut his left cheek up to his right eyebrow diagonally. Had the gori been half a centimetre closer, his right eye would have been lost. However, Naruto's attack charged with Kurama's chakra immediately cauterized A's wound, leaving a large scar across the Raikage's face.

Even the best medic-nins wouldn't be able to heal the scar. A would remember this fight for the rest of his life.

Additional blasts rocked the facility, and the foundation had been destroyed and the building was quaking. A was holding his injured face and was disoriented. Naruto charged again, however he saw A took another step backward and the floorboard gave way beneath him. The Raikage let out a startled cry as he fell into the basement.

The building was collapsing as the explosions continued. The facility would be soon devoured in a sea of flames. Time was running out.

"I hope this will be your grave," Naruto set the timer to ten seconds before he tossed the last of his Havoc seals into the pit hole. "Rest in pieces with your precious eggs and sperm, gori."

The building finally collapsed and was in flame, just as Naruto left the building. However he stiffened as Orange's memory returned to him.

"DAMN IT! My cover is finally blown and Orange was destroyed by ANBU before he could destroy the Research and Development Centre!" Naruto punched the ground hard. He looked at his watch, it was 2245 now. He had to rendezvous with Hinata and other people. It looked like he would have to give up on the R&amp;D centre.

He had to create another distraction to get to the rendezvous point and a final punishment for the Kumo leadership. Naruto clapped his hands and patiently waited for five seconds and a small twister came out between his palms charging it with Kurama's chakra. Naruto launched it towards the most expensive residential district, where the Kumo councillors resided. The twister's size grew gradually as it flew to its destination.

XXXXXXXXX

_22:55_

Darui and his fellow shinobi signed in relief as the last flame around the councillors' homes was finally extinguished. However, they were initially confused when gusts of wind began to buffet them. They looked toward the source of the wind, and found a growing twister. Darui's eyes widened when a large fire stream hit the twister, which turned into a gigantic fireball, at least five hundred meters in radius.

"FIND COVER!" Darui shouted.

Those few who failed to ceased to exist as they were consumed in the flames, including two Kumo councillors.

XXXXXXXXX

_23:00_

_The Evacuation Tunnel Entrance_

Hinata, G, Seikan and Blue were anxiously waiting outside the tunnel entrance in the forest. They knew Naruto was safe as Blue was still here, but Naruto was late and they were worried. It took another five minutes for Naruto to appear here, and his uniform was covered in blood.

A worried Hinata rushed to hug him. "Naruto-kun!"

"Sorry I'm late," Naruto clutched Hinata close to him. "But I will explain later. We have to go NOW. I'll cover our tracks."

G and Seikan went into the tunnel and prepared to close the entrance. Blue dispelled and returned his memory to Naruto, who smiled and gave Hinata another tight hug.

"You did exceptionally well." Naruto smiled and complimented her. "You are truly a kunoichi now. You should be proud."

"Thank you." Hinata beamed as her cheeks turned red as they shared a brief kiss.

Naruto first hid four Flying Thunder God kunai in the forest, and created two small twisters to clear all the foot prints before he and Hinata entered the tunnel. There were still slaves trapped in Kumo, the owned slaves and the male slaves in the foundries and mines, but Naruto promised he would save them too.

"I'll be back."

XXXXXXXXX

_Three Hours Later_

In the ruins of the Eggs and Sperm Storage Facility, a fist struck out, and a bloodied and scar-faced A emerged from the rubble.

The Raikage's Ten Year Plan was almost destroyed by one of his future generals. A couldn't believe all of his efforts to ensure Kumogakure's global supremacy and world domination were ruined. He gazed out over the sheer destruction of the village, smokes and fires almost everywhere.

Kumogakure was now an inferno.

An animalistic roar of fury was suddenly heard across the entire village.

"What the hell is that?" a cluster of chunin screamed.

It caused even more panic in the Cloud village.

XXXXXXXXX

_Ten hours after entering the tunnel_

The tunnel was ironically created by the threat of possible invasion led by his father Minato Namikaze, and it was 72 kilometres long. It took Naruto roughly seventy minutes to get to the other end of the tunnel; however it would be much longer with those non-shinobi people but it was expected.

They had been inside the tunnel for nearly ten hours, but they would be exiting it within the next thirty minutes. The group was having a final rest before they left the tunnel. Naruto was resting with Arashi rest against his shoulder while Hinata was checking with the slave-students and the civilians.

"Naruto," Kurotsuchi spoke, with Sayuri on her side. "We want to talk to you for a second."

"Oh?" Naruto raised his head to see them. "What's up?"

"We always wanted to ask you this: Why did you pick me and Sayuri?"

"Because you girls are pretty." Naruto replied casually, and both Kurotsuchi and Sayuri gawked and blushed, which made Naruto laughed in amusement.

"Haha! Just kidding, but you two are really pretty. But let me ask you this: What would happen if you are picked by someone else?"

Naruto's rhetorical question stunned the Iwa girls as they understood the hidden meaning in his question. "I'll be frank: selecting you to be my…well it was the most practical way for the future, but I did want to protect you two. Yes, I already knew your background before I picked you in H's facility. Yes, I want Konohagakure and Iwagakure to form an alliance, like Konohagakure and Sunagakure, and even if it's just a piece of paper without any value it can probably pressure this despicable village to surrender to three superpowers, or four if Kirigakure joins in."

"I wanted to save every last one of you from that facility and from becoming little more than breeding stock, but I couldn't." the blond confided to them in a deep mournful tone. "I couldn't pick too many girls there, I was already being watched when I picked Hinata-chan in the first place."

Naruto stood up and he gazed at Kurotsuchi and Sayuri, they saw sorrow in his sky-blue eyes. "It was a very difficult decision to make…" Kurotsuchi and Sayuri were silent as Naruto sighed and walked pass them.

However, the Namikaze turned to them and smiled, "Konoha and Iwa have deep grudges against each other, and I know who I am to Iwa, the most wanted man by Iwagakure, dead or alive. But personally you and I can still be friends, all right?"

Kurotsuchi and Sayuri nodded and smiled back to him. "Yes, we can."

"Thank you very much for protecting me." Sayuri said gratefully.

"Me too," Kurotsuchi said, "Thank you."

"You know, I think I really could have fall for you, but I know your heart already belongs to someone." Sayuri looked over at Hinata who was busy distributing rations to people with other ex-Kumo shinobi, Naruto smiled in return.

"We will separate after we exit this tunnel, Hinata-chan and I will go the southern port with the Mist citizens, you two will go to the northern port with my friends G and Seikan and the other Iwa and Earth Country girls. Take care of yourselves and stay happy."

"You too." Both girls said simultaneously.

"I bet you and Hinata-chan can't wait to have a few dates and have some more wild adult activities when you get home, right?" Kurotsuchi teased with a grin like a Cheshire cat.

Naruto blushed at her mention of the latter, however he suddenly stiffened as he sensed someone was outside the tunnel exit. "Someone is out there!"

"You guys stay here!" Naruto stormed towards the exit with Arashi already in his right hand.

"**Stop!**" Kurama shouted. "**He's a friendly.**"

XXXXXXXXX

_Lightning Country Southern Port_

Honoka and Tayuya in their black hair still hiding their normal appearance had begun to load the supplies on the ship, _The Wind of Freedom_.

"We are finally going to get the hell out of this shithole." Tayuya exclaimed impatiently after loading the first set of supplies on the ship, "I can't wait to get rid of this shitty hair colour!"

"Language!" Honoka yelled in a reprimanding tone.

Tayuya protested. "Hey, Naruto swore too. Why didn't you reprimand him too?"

"I chastised him too, but Naruto-kun was under a lot of pressure. It's nine o'clock now. Naruto-kun and his friends would be here in four hours."

XXXXXXXXX

_Ten Minutes Later_

_Outside of the Evacuation Tunnel_

"Nice to meet you, Roshi-san. I am the jinchuuriki to Kurama, people call him the Kyuubi." Naruto offered his hand to the bearded man in front of him who then shook his hand.

"Likewise, Naruto," Roshi greeted. "I am the jinchuuriki to the Yonbi."

This made Naruto raise an eyebrow. Even Roshi didn't know the Yonbi's name like B-sensei? "Roshi-san, before I ask the main question, do you know the Yonbi's name?"

"Yeah…his name is Son Goku." Roshi reluctantly answered.

"I see. Thanks. Now back to the main question, how did you get here so fast? It was impossible to reach here from Earth Country within a day and a half."

"No, I was already in Lightning Country," Roshi enlightened Naruto, "I have been searching for my grandniece Kurotsuchi-chan ever since her disappearance."

"Iwagakure have dispatched searching parties for Kurotsuchi-chan, Sayuri-chan and the other missing Earth Country girls for years, even Han the jinchuuriki to Gobi was mobilised and was searching around the border of Fire Country. We suspected it was either Konoha or Kumo behind this…"

"Kurotsuchi-chan!" Roshi rushed to hug his grandniece when he saw her coming out of the tunnel with the other people. "I am so glad to see you! But what is this? You've grown so much? You look like a teenager."

Naruto coughed and interjected, "We'll explain this later…"

Roshi looked a bit sheepish, "Anyway, the Kyuubi contacted us, and fortunately I was nearby."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked his fox friend in his mindscape. "Kurama, you called your brethren?"

"**Yes**," Kurama replied in annoyance, "**But I called him to cover your ass! I am so glad in foresight I called him since you failed to destroy the Research and Development Centre!**"

Naruto chuckled at his fox friend's remarks, too prideful to admit he actually called for help. "Thank you Kurama. But when did you contact them?"

"**When you and your girlfriend were having your little private time.**" Kurama grinned and Naruto's face deepened into a shade of red and quickly left the mindscape with the excuse of helping people getting out of the tunnel.

"**So this is the boy you talked about?**" Son Goku asked Kurama in the Tailed Beast communication link, the fox nodded.

Kurama already explained everything, including the blond's friendship and respect to him. Son Goku was looking at Naruto with interests, his most cynical brethren respected and cared for the jinchuuriki. Now he could understand why Kurama respected Naruto, the boy actually respected the Tailed Beasts. The four-tailed ape silently agreed he had never seen someone who cared so much about other people since their father. The boy even helped the people from the village which had the highest bounty on him.

"**Naruto Namikaze, you are very interesting…**"

Naruto and his former team leader G shook hands, "Sensei, it's my honour to work with you regardless of the missions. I wish you and your daughter will have a better life in Earth Country. Roshi-san will help you guys to travel to Earth Country by ships."

"The honour is mine and you too," G was looking at his daughter, their family and friends, "Thank you for faking our deaths and helping us to escape while you take all the 'blames'."

Naruto turned to Kurotsuchi and Sayuri after they hugged and bid goodbye to Hinata and Asuka. The girls had lived together for at least two years and had come to see each other as family. They were all saddened to know they were going to separate.

"Please remember to bring the scroll to the Tsuchikage, it contains evidence of the crimes Kumo committed, Kurotsuchi-chan, Sayuri-chan," Naruto sadly smiled to them and hugged them too. "You two are a family to me. Please stay safe and happy."

Kurotsuchi and Sayuri blushed and smiled back. "We will, take care of yourself."

"Roshi-san," Naruto turned to his fellow jinchuuriki and bowed. "Please take care of my friends and Kurotsuchi-chan and Sayuri-chan. Also please tell Son Goku I am very grateful for both of your help."

Son Goku raised an eyebrow, and was amazed that the blond called him by his name instead of the number of tails. Naruto really cared for the Tailed Beasts too.

"**Naruto Namikaze, could you be the one the Old Man talked about?**"

"We have to go now," G with Roshi addressed to their group.

Naruto looked at Hinata, Asuka and their group. "Everyone, this way, let's go."

XXXXXXXXX

_Four Hours Later_

_Lightning Country's Southern Port_

Naruto and his friends had finally arrived at the port and rendezvoused with Honoka and Tayuya. Naruto briefly introduced the two parties to each other; however he privately introduced Hinata and his Uzumaki clanswomen.

After making sure everyone had embarked on the Wind of Freedom, including the Water citizens. It's time to sail. Naruto removed his Kumo forehead protector and flak jacket and tossed them to the sea before donning the old black Uzumaki armour over his ANBU bodysuit.

"Let's go, Tayuya-chan," he said to his helmswoman. "To the Fire Country's eastern coast."

"Aye, aye captain." Tayuya said in a sarcastic tone.

The Wind of Freedom left the Lightning Country's southern port to Fire Country.

"We are free!" All people cheered and some cried in joy.

Naruto and Hinata held hands and smiled to each other and they looked out toward the sea and toward home.

XXXXXXXXX

_Two Days Later_

_Kumogakure_

_Temporary Raikage Office_

"LITTLE PRICK!" the Raikage roared when he saw the smoke rising from Naruto's house after ANBU had stormed it. The house was rigged, and he should have known it. The panic was finally calming down but this had reignited some of the panic, much to his annoyance.

After some medical treatment, the Raikage was still in an extremely foul mood and the tower staffs were frightened, even Mabui herself was a little nervous about approaching him. The tower staff except Mabui didn't dare get too close with the Raikage for fear of their lives, and nobody dared to eyeball A's scarred-face. The Raikage was reading the damage reports while gritting his teeth and shaking in rage.

There were over two thousand deaths on the shinobi side, and more than four thousand heavily wounded. Darui had third degree burns over half of his body; it would take him and most of the wounded at least two months to fully recover. C finally returned to report and narrowly avoided A's wrath but he claimed he was knocked out by Naruto, and he was embarrassed to say he was hidden in a dumpster.

Half of the armouries and military installations were totally destroyed including the pill plants, and another quarter of them were severely damaged and the rest had sustained significant damage. Their most powerful weapons and artefacts, even the treasured tools of the Rikudo Sennin, were all missing from the destroyed tower. Looking over all of the reports A felt a nagging sense of foreboding when he considered the destroyed pill plants. He called C to launch a health investigation on everyone who had taken the pills.

All hospitals were overwhelmed with wounded and all available medics and doctors were called in, however several doctors were "unavailable" and even required immediate treatment, Doctor Ishii and his twenty colleagues were found with notes about their "crimes" next to them. They were all maimed missing their both hands and their eyes had been slashed and rendered blind. Some of them were even found to have kunai rammed up their butts.

Miraculously there were less than five hundred civilian deaths and another three thousand wounded and three hundred missing in the fire and the explosions. Most of the civilians were lucky to have been at the festival areas, where there was no explosion or fire, and they had been taken to the shelters.

'Your compassion for the weak will be your undoing one day, you little prick.'

The Golden Horn Force was almost destroyed, and B and Yugito had disappeared with Team B and Team G. Without its best of the best, the two jinchuurikis and most of its elite shinobi, Kumo was in a very vulnerable position.

Furthermore, the slaves at the Slave and Breeding Program Facility were all "gone" as well as Naruto's slaves, H and her staffs were found gagged and put up in racks much to the shock and embarrassment to the second runner, while the ANBU stationed there were all dead. The Raikage realized H and the staff there were all imposters when he sent the first runner to check the situation.

A concluded this had been deliberately planned long ago and there was no doubt the student-slaves were with the prick and his slaves. The Raikage looked at the world map, and he knew where Naruto and his people would go to.

Konoha.

"Mabui! Send all available ANBU and hunter teams to the Fire Country's northern border and the eastern coast to apprehend them." A ordered. "Send messages to those who are there to intercept them as well!"

Mabui left to issue the Raikage's order, however unbeknownst to them, Grey had henged into one of the Mabui's assistants. He had stayed to check on Kumo's situation but his chakra was running critically low, he had to leave now and was glad he could send a critical piece of information back to his boss. He made an excuse to leave and went to a secret and a hidden location and dispelled.

"We can't go to the Fire Country's southern border," A talked to C and the rest of his staff. "I hate to get outside help but this time we have to get someone else to do it… C, see what you can do about contacting this Akatsuki."

XXXXXXXXX

_Aboard the Wind of Freedom_

While Naruto was on the deck resting and enjoying the sea breeze with the Water citizens, the girls, Hinata, Asuka, Honoka and Tayuya were having a chat on the bridge about their past events.

"Initially I was very suspicious to Naruto-kun being an Uzumaki because he doesn't have red hair despite that Uzumaki ruby and the Arashi sword which could be stolen," Honoka recalled about her encounter with the blond. "Fortunately Naruto-kun secretly followed me and my employers to the Summoning Island, and when the beast went out of control and started killing people and my chakra chain failed to restrain the beast…." she shuddered at that event which nearly got her killed.

She continued, "I was calling out for help but there was no one, but Naruto-kun suddenly flashed out of nowhere and pulled me to safety before we brought down the beast together. He proved himself a truly Uzumaki and the son of Kushina by fiercely protecting his fellow clanswoman," Honoka reminisced. "I owe him my life."

Tayuya added in her two cents worth, "Me too. I was an orphan and I had a hard time living in the streets until Naruto and Honoka found and helped me. They confirmed I was an Uzumaki with that ruby thing, and we three become kind of like siblings that supported each other and they showed me something like what a family was." Tayuya said thankfully. "If they didn't show up, I would be still in the streets and probably have ended up in a very bad situation or dead. I owe both of them a lot."

Hinata and Asuka nodded in agreement as both of them had been saved by the blond. The bridge door was suddenly opened and Naruto with a hardened expression rushed in, which startled everyone in the room.

"Sorry, but my shadow clone informed me that the damn gori is still alive," he announced with a very serious tone, "But the most important thing is that the Fire Country's northern border and eastern coast will be crawling with Kumo ninjas."

The girls gasped. With the Water citizens, they couldn't outrun or fight the pursuers when they landed on the coast.

"We can't guarantee there would be enough Konoha patrols in the area to help us. We have to change course," Naruto's fingers were tapping the ship's railing and checking the fuel meters. "The Fire Country's southern coast, even Kumo surely won't penetrate that far. The fuel should be enough to reach Wave Country. We'll have to land there."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*The Wind Claws are very similar to the wrist blades in the Predator movies, but Naruto had a hidden S Rank assassination and combat technique, and it was not twin wrist blades. It was a different shape. Naruto's shadow clones could only use up to A-rank techniques and no further to any S-rank ones, and only Naruto could use S-Rank techniques himself.

*The Raikage's face was much more colourful than Ibiki's, due to Naruto's katana strike and the explosions.

*Here I put up a short and simple part but hopefully clear enough on how Naruto met Honoka and Tayuya. About how the ruby truly worked, it would be used again in future chapters.

*Mikoto's wound was worsened by the explosions. There is a reason about Mikoto's crippled mobility. It would be an important factor in several future events.

*About Sasuke, well, he was Sasuke after all. He fell to darkness very easily, was very easily tempted hence in this story he still wanted to kill Itachi.

*The reason Naruto wrecked havoc in Kumo was not due on vengeance, but against the evils committed by Kumo and he needed to liberate the innocents and the slaves and to help his friends to escape. Naruto had strong sense of justice like his father Minato. In canon Kakashi mentioned Minato's sense of justice in the Wave Mission when Tazuna asked him why he still accepted the mission. In the aftermath of the canon Wave mission, Naruto even cared and grieved for Haku and Zabuza despite that they were enemies.

*I am surprised some people wanted lemons, in a vivid way, especially in Chapter 06: Can You Feel the Love Tonight. I wish readers to see the Naruto and Hinata bonding on three nights: Hinata waited for Naruto arrived home late, Hinata comforted Naruto's grief and they finally consummated on the eve of their escape for freedom. I prefer not to write lemon, and I think this short love scene could be sufficient to describe their love towards each other.

*The reason I think Naruto deserved Hinata is not based on her boobs, but her pure love towards him and her gentleness and kindness. There are too many stances that they helped each other in the canon. Sakura and Ino idolized Sasuke in their own perfect version, even he was cold and arrogant and had many obvious downsides, but they overlooked them in fangirl ways. Hinata, on the other hand, admired and liked Naruto and she knew and accepted his many shortcomings, she admitted it prior the Chunin Exam Finals in canon. Some people frown on Hinata's stalker behaviour, but based on my manga reading experience (I started reading manga since 1990, and I read a lots), it obviously serves as a comic relief, and so is Sakura's typical excessive violent response to Naruto's trivial immature behaviours, which one is better for Naruto's health, despite Kurama constantly healing him?


	8. Wave: Hopes

_A Week Later_

_Wave Country_

_The Wind of Freedom Bridge_

"It's too damn quiet," Tayuya remarked as she absentminded touched her flute, given to her by Naruto to protect herself after he had evaluated her style of combat. Her friends were also looking at the Wave Country from the bridge of the ship. "It also reeks of fear."

The Wind of Freedom had finally reached the Wave Country's coast. Hinata, Honoka and Asuka, who were all standing next to the helmswoman nodded in agreement. All four girls turned to look back at the only boy standing in the back of the bridge. Naruto stood against the wall, had his eyes closed and was in deep thought.

Naruto had an uneasy feeling about reaching the Fire Country's southern border; he knew that damn gori wouldn't give up pursuing him and Hinata, despite Kumo being unable to come this far south without alarming Konoha. Moreover he and Hinata had escaped with so many people with bloodline limits, the gori had to be up to something.

However the ship's fuel had almost reached its end, and they had to land in Wave Country to refuel and resupply. It didn't take long for Naruto to make a decision; he immediately brought out a scroll containing radio communicators.

"Here, take one." The blond started to distribute them to his friends. Then the blond created a high level shadow clone code named Red.

"Asuka-chan, Honoka-neechan and Tayuya-neechan, you girls please stay on the ship and help the civilians. Please make sure that those strong enough to fight are armed just in case." He smiled as he noticed that even Honoka had two daggers in sheathes behind her waist. "Hinata-chan and I will go to the shore, get some fuel and a better grasp of the town's situation." the blond put a hand on his shadow clone's shoulder and turned to the girls. "Red will stay and assist you. Stay frosty."

Everyone nodded while Naruto and Hinata pulled up their masks. Out of the ship, Naruto and Hinata were water walking toward the nearest house on the coast.

"Hinata-chan, please." Naruto pointed towards the coast.

Hinata nodded and activated her bloodline limit to scan around the region. "Byakugan! "

"I see two men with swords heading toward that house," the Hyuuga said worriedly pointing to a house. "And there is a young woman and a boy inside!"

XXXXXXXXX

_Tazuna's House_

"STAY AWAY FROM US!" Tsunami shouted as she failed to close the door to prevent Gato's two thugs from coming in. "INARI! HIDE!" Tsunami desperately told her son to run, but Inari was unable to move, as the door was broken and Tsunami was knocked aside.

"Hehe…" Waraji chuckled as he looked at the boy and couldn't help his urge. "I feel the need to cut something with my sword…"

"Fine, but make it quick." Zori impatiently grabbed a resisting Tsunami, who was still screaming for her son. "We need to use the woman as a hostage to stop the bridge builder and that Konoha team."

"Hehehe…" Waraji slowly took his sword from its sheath, and walked menacingly toward Inari. Waraji's urge to kill becoming stronger with every step toward the frightened boy. "Those Konoha ninja will be next. Hehehe…"

The boy's feet were glued to the floor and he could only helplessly stare and tremble in fear as the man in front of him slowly raised his sword above his head.

"STOP! PLEASE!" Tsunami cried desperately as Gato's goon moved to take her son from her. Suddenly four senbon flew through the doorway and Zori and Waraji screamed in pain as they found senbon deeply embedded in their hands.

"How dare you, wanting to harm a child!"

Tsunami turned to look at the source of the soft female voice and found there was a masked couple in samurai armours standing in the door before she ran to check on her son. The taller of the masked couple made a hand sign and an identical figure appeared. "White, interrogate them and take care of them afterwards." The shadow clone nodded and took away the two intruders.

Tsunami hugged her son tightly. "INARI! Thank you very much! Samurai-san!"

Naruto and Hinata saw the mother and the son hugging each other in joy at finding themselves saved. Hinata's hand tightened around Naruto's as they smiled at each other. The blond could see in his love's eyes how much she yearned to hug her own parents and feel their warmth when she returned home. He again swore to himself to bring his Hinata-chan and their friends home safe. On the other hand, the bluenette could see in her love's eyes how pained he was that his parents were gone and that he never had a chance to hold them. She, however, believed her parents would love to become her Naruto-kun's new parents.

Naruto corrected her. "We are not samurai. We are ninja."

Though saved, it didn't stop the grandson of the great bridge builder from giving out his pessimistic views. "Don't fight Gato. You are all going to die like those Konoha ninjas." Inari muttered at low voice. "No one can win against Gato..."

The Namikaze's eyes widened. 'There's a Konoha team here? And Gato!? The shipping magnate who was responsible for smuggling Asuka-chan and the Water people to Kumo? What is he doing here?'

"Inari!" Tsunami reprimanded her son. "These ninja just saved our lives!" The couple came closer to meet Tsunami's eyes with sincerity.

"That's all right, mother of Inari, we can help. Please tell us everything."

XXXXXXXXX

_On the Bridge_

_Twenty Minutes Later_

_The Battle with the Hyoton User_

The members of Team 7 led by Kakashi Hatake were fighting a losing battle against the partner of the Demon of the Mist.

"Shit! Our plan failed!" Kiba cursed angrily. "You have Plan B, Sasuke?"

'I can't believe those ice mirrors can withstand our clans' signature techniques!' the Uchiha was in disbelief as he looked at the slightly damaged ice mirror they attempted to destroy.

Sasuke Uchiha, Kiba Inuzuka with his ninken Akamaru were trapped and were facing the Hyoton user's Ice Release: **Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals**. They had used the Inuzuka **Fang Passing Fang** followed by Fire Release: **Grand Fireball** to bring them down; however that had only produced minimal results, much to their disappointment.

They were literally pinned down as multiple senbon pierced through them, and had forced Akamaru to return to his original form. The last member of Team 7 Sakura Haruno was staying close to protect their client Tazuna with a kunai at the ready. Despite Sasuke having finally awakened his Sharingan with one tomoe in his left and two in his right; and he could only just see the senbon that were coming toward him, Kiba and Akamaru.

**Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death.**

"Oh no…" Kiba muttered but quickly moved to shield Akamaru from harm.

Sasuke's pasts flashed in his mind. That terrible night his brother massacred the Uchiha clan which claimed the life of his father and of many of the clansmen, and his mother's crippled mobility. He worked hard so one day he could avenge his clan despite mum always discouraged him from doing so. Then, the team formation day came into his mind. That humiliating taijutsu lesson he and Kiba learnt from Kakashi, Konoha secret ultimate taijutsu: **Sennen Goroshi**, which was actually a damn kancho in disguise! He had a sore butt and a bruise to his pride as an Uchiha, he never told mum about that humiliating lesson.

This mission was supposed to be C-rank to protect Tazuna the bridge builder from bandits. It, however, was bumped up to A-rank when Team 7 realized whom they were fighting against, the Demon of the Mist, and Sasuke was excited that this mission could be used as combat experience and a measuring stick to test his capabilities against ninja of higher calibre.

But it was more than Sasuke bargained for when Team 7 learned the Demon's academic background: a single student slaughtered the entire graduating class single-handedly. As the senbons came closer, Sasuke Uchiha believed his end was coming. He wished his younger clansmen would one day inherit his will and kill his damn brother.

Team 7, their client Tazuna, and the rogue Kiri hit team heard a roar and everyone froze. Then there was a powerful shockwave that blew off the Hyoton user's senbon and destroyed her ice mirrors.

**Tailed Beast Shockwave!**

The jinchuuriki to Kyuubi no Kitsune had raised the angle of the shockwave much higher than usual hoping to minimize damage to the bridge; multiple cracks appeared on the bridge nonetheless. The shockwave knocked everyone off his/her feet.

The Hyoton user who had been leaping between the mirrors in mid-air was caught off guard, the powerful shockwave blowing her off course. She could hear her master's concerned cry, and saw a senbon dipped in sleeping liquid embedded in her arm before she flew past the male genins of Team 7.

The fake Kiri hunter's mask broken in half as she crashed face first into the ground and was rendered unconscious. Sasuke and Kiba managed to get back to their feet; as they held each other's arm over their shoulders and carefully walked towards to see the fake Mist hunter-nin, kunai on their hands. They recognized the hunter as the same person they had met during their tree climbing training.

"Haku? She was the fake hunter-nin?" Sasuke and Kiba looked at her in disbelief. The Inuzuka and his ninken had said Haku was a "she" with their noses checking her scent, despite her claim that she was a boy.

Fuck, Haku had wanted to mess with their heads.

XXXXXXXXX

_Four Minutes Ago_

_The Battle with the Demon of the Mist_

'Another water clone.' Copycat Kakashi Hatake thought after his kunai plunged into the Demon of the Mist's head.

"So tell me, Kakashi," Zabuza Momochi asked with a smile from behind his mask and he was behind the Konoha jonin. "How does it feel to know I figured out your trick?"

The Konoha jonin immediately turned around and used his kunai to block the strike from the Executioner Blade wielded by the Mist missing-nin. He could hear the worried shouts from Sakura for her teammates and he knew his students were fighting a losing battle against the Hyoton user. He had to finish the battle with Zabuza as quickly as possible, otherwise his students and the client would end up in body scrolls, and this country would be destroyed.

'I have to end this now.' Kakashi quickly took a scroll from his flak jacket pocket. The cyclops smeared some of his blood from a wound inflicted by Zabuza across the scroll, and made a few hand signs before he slammed the scroll to the ground.

"Summoning Technique: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique!"

Zabuza was trying to sense what was happening before the ground under him exploded. "What the?" He was shocked to see several dogs erupted from the ground and latched onto him and he couldn't move.

"If sight and hearing don't work, then use smell. I bled on purpose when I blocked your attacks. I left the smell of my blood on your weapons. From what I see, you are the one to fall into a trap." Kakashi said and he made a few hand signs and lightning chakra began to concentrate on his right hand, **Lightning Cutter**. "Zabuza Momochi, you have great ambition. Konoha was well aware that you left Kirigakure and became a missing-nin. You tried to assassinate the Mizukage and to take over the Mist village, but you failed and escaped with your men. You work for scum like Gato to gather fund and to escape from the hunter-nins. The man you are trying to kill, Tazuna-san, is the courage of this country, and the bridge he wants to build is the hope of this country."

"I don't care about them as long as I accomplish my goal!" Zabuza yelled in defiance, he inwardly admitted Kakashi was right, but his country and village were also at stake.

"You'll die here." Sharingan no Kakashi said coldly and rushed toward the Kiri-nin with his trademark assassination technique. But the killing blow failed to land on Kakashi's opponent, when both combatants heard a roar and paused.

"What the…?"

They were shocked when a shockwave knocked them and the dogs around like ragdolls, pushing them a few metres. The mist created by Zabuza was blown away.

"HAKU!" Zabuza shouted out when he saw her being blew away in mid-air, before he blacked out.

"I hate to use the Tailed Beast Shockwave," Naruto said to Hinata. "But that Hyoton user's technique was powerful." Hinata nodded in agreement.

XXXXXXXXX

Kakashi and his eight ninkens were attempting to get back to their feet despite the pain, when they saw two pairs of feet standing in front of them, a couple wearing the old Uzumaki style of armours.

"Hello, Kakashi-niisan." Naruto greeted the copycat and held out his hand to the Konoha jonin, while he and Hinata removed their masks. "Long time no see. It's a pleasant surprise meeting you here."

"Minato-sensei, Lady Hitomi?" Kakashi's eyes widened, the person in front of him looked like the Yondaime Hokage and the Hyuuga matriarch, before realizing they didn't have whiskered cheeks and hime-cut hairstyle respectively. The Uzumaki armour they wore and the male had called him 'niisan' and there was only one person who had ever called him niisan, but…

'Impossible.'

"No," Naruto shook his head and corrected Kakashi. "I'm his son, Naruto. And, this is Hinata, daughter of Hiashi and Hitomi Hyuuga. I'll explain to you later for why we look like teenagers instead of preteenagers."

Kakashi couldn't believe it, despite their growth their features matched the two Konoha children who had disappeared nearly ten years ago. There was only one way to confirm it, Kakashi moved his head to his eight ninkens. "Can you guys authenticate them?"

The eight ninkens still remembered the scents they had used to track them during the Namikaze-Hyuuga Incident, and began sniffing the couple. "They are Naruto Namikaze and Hinata Hyuuga." The leader of Kakashi's ninkens confirmed, and his seven dog friends all barked in agreement.

"I can't believe it's you!" Kakashi smiled and wanted to jump up in joy and hug them, but found he couldn't get up. He was too exhausted after his battle with the Demon of the Mist. Thinking about his opponent, the copycat turned around and saw a Naruto's shadow clone, codenamed Yellow, was guarding and trying to wake Zabuza up.

"Sasuke-kun!" Everyone heard a worried cry and turned around to see the Team 7 pink haired kunoichi rushed towards her teammates sitting on the ground exhausted. One of her teammates had a fan symbol on his back, obviously an Uchiha, and another one had red triangles on his cheeks, an Inuzuka. All three genin members of Team 7 looked familiar to Naruto, thanks to having regained his memories three years ago. He would check about them when they got home. Much to the blond's disappointment, he noted the pinkette was sobbing and helping the Uchiha only while ignoring her Inuzuka teammate and his ninken, who were both just two metres away from the Uchiha. The pinkette couldn't control her emotion properly; Naruto shook his head and turned to his lover.

"Hinata-chan, please treat all the wounded, including the Mist ninja. Tayuya-neechan will heal Zabuza's arms when..."

"Hey wait a sec!" Tazuna interrupted and protested. "You want to heal my would-be assassins?"

Naruto raised a hand and assured him. "Don't worry, Tazuna-san. Your daughter Tsunami already told us everything. We saved her and your grandson when Gato's thugs attacked them. The Mist ninjas are no threat anymore after we deal with his employ…What the?" Naruto stiffened slightly and turned around. Everyone including Zabuza, who now awoke, followed suit and found a group of more than 200 people facing them, and they were not friendly. All of them were armed, except the midget leader in a business suit, who was armed with only a cane.

"Hey Zabuza, I see you fucked up again. Huh?" Gato sneered at the assassin, and his soldiers laughed. They were all radiating malicious intent and Naruto could not help but sense them. The jinchuuriki immediately recognized the leader, Gato, the shipping and transport magnate. Naruto had seen his ugly face on magazines before. Now the former Kumo ANBU wanted to ask him some questions.

Zabuza had regained conscious and asked as he looked at Gato and his army. "What are you doing here, Gato? What is the meaning of this?"

Gato smirked, "Well, hiring ninja from villages is rather expensive, not only do I have to pay them, but it would also be troublesome if they betrayed me, so I hire missing-nins like you. It's very easy to dispose of you when you are exhausted after fighting enemy ninja, and I can use superior number to get rid of you all. I don't need to pay you afterward, wouldn't you say?" There was a smug grin on his face. "After I get rid of you, I am going to put this country in its place."

Zabuza bitterly glared at his former employer. 'This backstabbing motherfucker never intended to pay me in the first place.' He turned to Kakashi. "Hey Kakashi, our fight ends here. It's obvious that I am not going to get paid for this, I don't have any reason to kill Tazuna or to fight with you anymore."

Tazuna felt relieved that the dangerous Mist assassin no longer wanted to kill him, but his life was still in danger as Gato and his army stood a few hundred metres away from him.

The Mist ninja slowly stood up grabbing his Executioner Blade despite his heavily wounded arms. "But NO ONE fucks with me, and I'm going to teach that midget why I'm called the Demon of the Mist." Before he moved, Naruto stood in front of him facing Gato and extended his left arm to signal him to stand aside.

"Zabuza, you can't fight them in your condition. Beside, Gato is mine: I have some questions for him. Leave him to me, besides I have a deal I want to make with you. I have an offer that you will love." Naruto unsheathed the Arashi from his back.

The swordsman wanted to protest, but the blond was right: he was in no shape to fight, and he and Kakashi were curious about the offer he had mentioned.

"Fine, that offer better be good, brat."

"Hey boy! Who do you think you are? A samurai-wannabe? You can't fight all of us alone. RUN BACK HOME AND SUCK YOUR MOMMMMY!" The midget insulted Naruto and his thugs bent over and laughed hysterically. The jinchuuriki's eyes narrowed and his rage spiked and held up a hand to assure Hinata and Kakashi he was all right.

"All right. GET THEM!" Gato ordered his soldiers, and they raised their weapons high and cheered before they charged.

"Number means nothing if your soldiers are a bunch of ragtag thugs." Naruto said coldly, he held the sword in both hands and began charging it with his and Kurama's chakra for a few seconds. With a large grunt, and aiming high so as not to hit the shipping tycoon, he swung his sword in a large arc as thin but deadly wind blade was released towards Gato's thugs.

Wind Release: **Vacuum Broadsword**, the technique was a far more powerful variant of the Vacuum Sword. It cost more time and chakra to unleash the technique, but the range and width of the attack was greatly increased, that and the user had to be careful lest it created too much collateral damage.

The tycoon was confused when his goons seemed to freeze as they stopped abruptly, "Hey! What are you imbeciles stopping for? GET THEM!" He shouted at his men, but they still didn't move, Gato didn't know his men were already dead.

Half a second later, to the midget's horror, his men's upper bodies, or heads if shorter, slowly slid apart and dropped to the ground, their blood pumped about a metre high. A blood bath. Gato screamed in high pitch sound as he was showered by his thugs' blood.

The bridge had been painted red. Not only Gato was horrified by this butchery, everyone on the bridge was shocked at the level of this carnage. Hardened ninjas like Kakashi and Zabuza were shocked and awed to see a technique that instantly slaughtered 200 men.

Sasuke and Kiba were finally awake and with Sakura, they were all horrified at this level of killing, the body parts and blood of 200 men were everywhere.

"Oh Kami…" The smell of the massacre reached them, and Kiba and Akamaru were affected the worst. The genins of Team 7 and their client Tazuna, and Hinata couldn't stand it anymore. They all fell to their knees, leaned forward and puked up their breakfast.

"Monster…" Sakura muttered while she wiped her mouth clean and she looked at the blond responsible for this. Naruto emotionlessly made a hand sign to create a shadow clone. Sasuke, Kiba and Akamaru looked at the blond in disbelief.

'He is worse than Itachi…' Sasuke compared this with his brother's massacre, despite the fact he was awed by the technique the blond had displayed.

Hinata was also having trouble accepting the scene, but she knew Naruto was enraged by Gato's insult, and it was the only technique he could use to capture the shipping magnate while taking out his army of thugs. It would be less bloody if Naruto took out all of them, and based on what Tsunami said, Gato and his men probably deserved this… But she would have a word with Naruto later.

The midget was still stunned as the blood continued to shower him, and he didn't notice as Naruto's shadow clone codenamed Black snuck up to him and grabbed his collar.

"I have questions to ask you," Black said coldly despite the fact he too was soaked with blood, "Regarding the deal you had with Kumogakure and what you did to this country."

"Mercy!" Gato cried out and Black noticed the tycoon wet his pants. "I'll give you whatever you want! Money! Power! Women! I'll give you anything. Just spare me! Mercy!"

Black ignored Gato's begging and body flickered away with him to somewhere else for questions. Naruto was preparing to wash the gore away with his Suiton techniques, but he stopped when he heard a clapping. Everyone turned around and saw two figures in black cloaks with red clouds.

XXXXXXXXX

The taller of the duo with a large bandaged item on his back continued clapping for another five seconds. He was impressed, very impressed. The brat had made another highest body count rate in a matter of seconds. Man, he even already had the highest body count rate in a night in Kumo according to the intelligence. Hell, these rates even he or his partner couldn't achieve in such a limited amount of time.

"Too bad the Raikage sent us to arrest him and his people; otherwise we could recruit him to be Sasori's partner…"

'The Raikage!?' Naruto, Hinata and Yellow were alarmed. Naruto placed his right hand on the hilt of the Arashi on his back, Hinata quickly took out her bow, and Yellow activated his Wind Claws. The taller one took off his straw hat and it revealed a grinning Kisame Hoshigaki, the Monster of the Mist, whom Zabuza, Kakashi and Naruto immediately recognized. The man was on the Kumo's hunting list for his sword, Samehada. However he must be taken with extreme caution. He was, after all, the Tailed Beast without a Tail…

To Kakashi and Naruto, it was a rarity to bump into two members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist on the same day.

"Anyway Itachi, should we take off their legs?" Kisame asked eagerly. He took the bandaged item from his back. "You can see the brat and his chick are going to resist arrest."

The other man held up a hand while Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata were alarmed at the mention of 'Itachi' and stared at the shorter one who also took off his veiled straw hat. The person in question was one of the most recognizable from the Bingo Books, the Uchiha Butcher who single-handedly wiped out the entire Konoha Military Police Force and killed his own father.

Itachi Uchiha.

"Naruto Arashi, surrender, come back to Kumo with us and return Kumo's 'properties'…" the Uchiha said in a monotone voice.

"ITACHI!" an enraged Sasuke charged towards his brother with a kunai, despite the wound and the exhaustion from the battle with Haku. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! DIE!"

Itachi caught his brother's wrist before the kunai came in contact with his body. He effortlessly grabbed Sasuke's wrist. "Still not strong enough, you don't have enough hate, foolish little brother." He commented in cold voice.

"He's your brother?" Kisame asked amusedly. "Hmm… He sure does look like you. Happy reunion, huh?"

Itachi ignored Kisame's sarcastic comment and pulled his brother closer to his face. "Let me remind you again why you are unworthy to kill…"

'The gap between Itachi and me doesn't change…Not Tsukuyomi again!' Sasuke became very fearful as he watched his brother's Mangekyo Sharingan active.

"Huh?" Itachi and Kisame blinked and were surprised when they saw the Uchiha was not holding his brother anymore but Yellow who was grinning at them. The shadow clone performed the substitution technique to switch place with Sasuke.

The duo saw a seal on the shadow clone placed by Naruto, and they did one thing before being consumed by the black flame of a Hellfire seal: jump.

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto quickly grabbed Sasuke before he collapsed to the floor exhausted. "What the hell are you thinking, Uchiha? You should have known you are not in any shape to fight him!"

"Hey! Don't say that to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted but she froze when Naruto shot her a cold glare. The memory of what the blond did to Gato's army several minutes ago was still fresh. The Namikaze immediately created a high level shadow clone.

"Grey! You help Hinata-chan to fight the Uchiha and I take care of that Sashimi!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SASHIMI BITCH?!"

Holding the Arashi, Naruto immediately jumped to fight Kisame. "Hinata-chan! Call Honoka-neechan!"

Grey turned to look at Sakura. "Pinky, you help 'your' Sasuke-kun, Tazuna-san and Inuzuka teammates. Don't argue with me, this isn't up for discussion!"

Hinata took out something from her pockets. "Kakashi-san, here some soldier pills!" She tossed a container to the Konoha jonin, but it was intercepted and destroyed by Itachi's shuriken.

The Uchiha landed in front of Grey. "Like we will let you recover your strength. It seems you are not willingly to come back with us."

"Oh fuck." The shadow clone muttered.

XXXXXXXXX

_The Battle with the Monster of the Mist_

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SASHIMI BITCH?!" An enraged Kisame rose his sword above his head to bring down in an axe-like strike to crush Naruto and his people below.

The blond jumped up to intercept Kisame's sword with the Arashi before they landed on the bridge, he never took off his eyes on the Kiri missing-nin. He had to be careful with that Samehada, the most powerful sword from the Mist.

"Hey, what are you so angry about? OH I GET IT. You don't like being called Sashimi. I AM SORRY. Would you like me to call you blue shark-ass face instead?"

Kisame's reaction proved that it touched his sensitive spot. "You little prick! I'm gonna dismember you slowly and painfully!" the Mist swordsman dashed towards the blond and engaged in a pure but fierce kenjutsu battle between Arashi and Samehada which lasted for two minutes. The Monster of the Mist had stronger strength to dominate the fight however Naruto's reflexes nullified his opponent's advantage and the fight entered into a stalemate.

Becoming frustrated at the absence of outcome as the jinchuuriki kept dodging or blocking his attacks, Kisame decided to use one of his most powerful and signature techniques by clapping his hands.

"Suiton: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" the missing-nin released a giant stream of water from his mouth, which erupted into a large tidal wave. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Kisame rising with his water. That technique was much more powerful than his Suiton Great Torrent.

"Here I come!"

Kisame was riding down the wave, grinning and showing his shark pointed teeth. Jump was the only thing Naruto could do, and much to his surprise the waves followed the Mist ninja, who used the jinchuuriki's distraction to slash his chest. Fortunately the Uzumaki armour absorbed the damage.

'Hmm, well…He is not the only one proficient in marine warfare here.' Naruto activated his Wind Release Armour before he landed on the water.

"How did you do that!?" Kisame was baffled as Naruto was surfing on the waves with huge foams trailing behind him, and coming towards him very fast! The blond had activated his Futon Armour **Cruise** mode that generated wind charka under his feet to propel himself in the water.

"SASHIMI DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW IT!" the blond flipped back and let the trailing spray splashed the Mist ninja.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT YOU LITTLE PRICK!" Kisame yelled furiously and his couldn't see his opponent due to the waves. When his vision cleared he saw Naruto coming towards him ready to strike him down with the Arashi, and he didn't have time to raise Samehada to block the blond's attack. He could only jump backward to avoid the strike. The slash destroyed his Akatsuki cloak and revealed his topless body.

Several arrows were shot at Kisame and he managed to dodge the first three arrows. The arrows were shot from that Byakugan girl. The Mist missing nin used Samehada to swat the other arrows away.

"Stop aiming at my balls! You bit-"

**BOOM!**

Hinata's arrows were tagged with Havoc or Hellfire seals, and they were rigged to blow at contact. Samehada shrieked in pain. Naruto also threw several kunai tagged with Havoc seals towards the Monster which the latter dodged. Yet the blasts were too powerful and Kisame's left arm was broken, the last thing he saw before being knocked out and dropped into the sea was his partner had destroyed the prick's shadow clone and was now dealing with that Byakugan girl.

Grey's destruction alerted Naruto who immediately created two new shadow clones to continue fighting Kisame before he went to support Hinata.

XXXXXXXXX

_Three Minutes Ago_

_The Battle with the Uchiha Butcher_

Itachi noticed the Hyuuga girl was giving Kisame troubles and he cringed and mentally cupped his family jewels in fear when he saw what part the Hyuuga was aiming at with her arrows.

'The explosive seals are at least three times as powerful as the one we use…' Itachi then threw a volley of shurikens towards Hinata, all at her vital points.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Grey shouted and a strong gust of wind blew off Itachi's shurikens before they reached Hinata. The shadow clone didn't realize it was a distraction as the Uchiha used this opportunity to launch a Great Fireball that destroyed Grey.

Seeing the Uchiha Butcher charging towards her with a ninjato in hand and his Sharingan activated, Hinata quickly put away her bow and took out her two daggers, the right one held in reverse grip. To Itachi's surprise, Hinata had activated the Raikage's signature Lightning Armour, and her two blades were coated in lightning chakra and they were vibrating dangerously.

Once in range, the firstborns of the two respective dojutsu clan heads exchanged slashes, and both of them had a light cut on their left cheek respectively. Then they proceeded to engage in a fierce battle of bukijutsu and taijutsu, and both sustained more cuts on their faces and limbs.

The Byakugan user remembered her taijutsu and bukijutsu training and spars in Lightning Armour with Naruto in Wind Armour. Her lover had the advantages of strength, reflex and speed while she had flexibility only, but she could manage to win a few rounds with her Lightning Armour. She remembered Naruto's combat philosophy: Everyone has one or more advantages no matter how strong your opponents are and use them to fight your opponent. Itachi, as she noted, was only superior in strength and they were almost equal in speed.

But the Uchiha had a far more battle experience and wasn't hailed a prodigy for nothing; he brutally struck his ninjato down to the Hyuuga's left shoulder. The wound wasn't too extensive though as the Uzumaki armour took the blunt of the attack and Hinata only suffered moderate muscle and tissue damage. Itachi moved to his next step of attack: casting a powerful genjutsu on the Hyuuga hoping to incapacitate her, only to find it didn't work, much to the genjutsu master's surprise.

Hinata reactivated her armour and the lightning release on her daggers to break Itachi's sword and forced the latter to jump backward to avoid the next attack. The Uchiha was wondering why his genjutsu failed. It took him a few seconds to find the answer on the girl's armour which was covered with glowing inscriptions.

Anti-ninjutsu and anti-genjutsu seals: **Shield**.

This type of seals was the reason why the Uzumaki clan was so feared that led to its destruction.

Hinata jumped towards Itachi to deliver a powerful cross slash with her daggers, **Lion's Twin Fangs**, a buki-taijutsu variant of Yugito's nin-taijutsu **Flying Claw**. Itachi narrowly dodged the strike, however his Akatsuki cloak and ninja clothes were destroyed and there was a slight cross wound on his bare chest.

Naruto finally arrived and took Hinata's stead to fight Itachi. He made a few hand signs and activated his S-rank assassination and combat technique.

**Futon: Wind Strike**.

The blond's right sleeve and fingerless glove were torn to shreds, and a metre long blade of light green wind chakra appeared on his tattooed right forearm and hand. The tattoos were insulation seals that prevented damage to his arm by the most powerful Futon technique. A very low screeching sound could be heard, but only within the range of one metre.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "It looks like my Lightning Cutter!"

The former Kumo ANBU operative was now engaging the former Konoha ANBU captain, they had so many similarities: came from powerful clans, prodigies, had bright future waiting for them, yet they "betrayed" their villages which raised and trained them, went "rogue", killed lots of their comrades, and…

They were both very dangerous.

Naruto's Wind Strike thrust towards Itachi's heart, but the Uchiha Butcher sidestepped and caught the jinchuuriki's right arm. Itachi's genjutsu failed to work again due to Naruto's Shield seals, then he thrust a kunai to the blond's carotid arteries, only to be intercepted by the latter's left hand. Both were deadlocked and were struggling to get out of it as they traded kicks and blocks.

Son Goku had informed that Kurotsuchi, Sayuri and the other Earth Country girls had arrived home yesterday with Roshi's help. Naruto was glad that they were home and it's now his group to reach a safe asylum, and they were so close to it. It was his mission to bring Hinata back to her parents. Failure was not an option, he would not give up and he had to win because he loved her and he wanted her home safe.

With this determination, Naruto head-butted Itachi to break the deadlock, but the latter did the same too. There was blood on their foreheads as they stumbled backward shaking.

"Fuck!" Naruto put his hand on his injured forehead and was surprised that the Uchiha did the same thing towards him, and he could see his opponent was surprised too. Naruto was puzzled seeing Itachi's eyes bled, and then a black flame was shot towards him.

**Amaterasu**.

It was shot at almost point-blank range and Naruto couldn't dodge it, but the Shield seals on his armour responded. The black flame was absorbed into a seal on the blond's armour. Then the jinchuuriki was shocked again to see a giant ribcage in chakra had been materialized around Itachi.

"I have to give you credits for pushing me this far…But it ends here." Itachi said pantingly and his chakra started to materialize a fist. Observing the seal effects from Naruto's and Hinata's armours, the Uchiha genius analysed and discovered the Shield's weakness: the Hyuuga's lightning chakra on her daggers and Naruto's Wind Strike disappeared when their seals activated. This meant both sides couldn't cast ninjutsu and/or genjutsu when the seals activated.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed when he saw the incomplete avatar delivered a fist towards him. A chakra arm sprung out from Naruto to intercept and grab the fist. The brutal punch was so powerful that the blond was pushed a few metres backward. Hinata's explosive arrows were keeping the Uchiha Butcher at bay, and they did some damage on the red gigantic skeletal humanoid avatar which was slowly regenerated. Three figures landed next to Kakashi, reinforcement had finally arrived.

Honoka immediately shot her **Adamantine Sealing Chains** towards Susanoo and bound it. Her chakra chain was more powerful thanks to the Uzumaki ruby which brought out the Uzumaki's potential.

"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!" A cloud of corrosive mist was shot towards Itachi's Susanoo. Asuka didn't have two bloodline limits like her elder sister, but the former's Boil Release was more powerful than the latter's and the Susanoo began to dissolve.

Big violent waves kept crashing the bridge and Gato's soldiers' remains were devoured by them. Looking at the wounded bridge workers Tayuya quickly used her flute to order **Doki** to protect them from the waves. Everyone was shocked to see a gigantic wall of water rose and quickly approaching towards them, with incalculable number of hungry sharks on it. They couldn't help but wondered: were the sharks lured by the blood of those slaughtered thugs? Only the Uchiha Butcher knew otherwise.

**Water Release: A Thousand Feeding Sharks.**

XXXXXXXXX

"**Unbelievable**." The last Susanoo Kurama saw was from that blasted Madara. "**Kid, get up! You have to take that down before it's complete! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!**"

"Oh great…" Naruto grumbled. There's only one way to stop this and to protect his friends, he quickly created a shadow clone named Blue.

Blue in Futon Armour Cruise mode quickly dived into the sea. Several of Kisame's sharks turned around and began chasing after the shadow clone. Blue clapped his hands for five seconds as he propelled deeper into the sea in Cruise mode. A growing twister came out of his hands and he sent it to the bottom of the sea before the sharks got him. Thirty seconds later a gigantic twister came out of the sea and the sea became a gigantic maelstrom, and the weather began to change, sky began to drop heavy rain and thunder bolts.

Everyone watched it in awe, but they failed to notice the Monster of the Mist and his sharks were sucked into the violent vortex, spinning before he was hurled out.

XXXXXXXXX

Kiba had been awestruck by the whole battle until Akamaru bit him and barked at him, and he realized something. "Sensei!" the dog boy called out for Kakashi and he threw a container to the jonin. "Here are the soldier pills!" The copy-nin quickly swallowed one and his strength was replenished before he activated the Lightning Cutter again.

"Zabuza, bite my arm!" The Mist assassin was confused when Tayuya offered her left arm to him. "Just do as I said for fuck's sake!" Tayuya gritted her teeth and tried not to scream when Zabuza's jagged teeth deeply nailed into her delicate skin.

"What the hell?" Zabuza felt rejuvenated and his arms were healed. What was this freaking technique, biting to heal? He would think about it later. The Demon of the Mist had no obligation to support the blond and the Konoha ninja despite the kunoichi healing him, but something told him otherwise. He quickly grabbed his Executioner Blade and joined the battle.

As Itachi's Susanoo was bound by Honoka's chakra chains, Naruto quickly entered Kyuubi-mode and his hands formed three Mini-Tailed Beast Balls. He shot Itachi's avatar with the three spheres in burst fire mode, one of the **Tailed Beast Gun** techniques. The first shot, maybe the first pair of shots would penetrate any defence. The last round would then deliver a knockout punch.

Why not use Tailed Beast Ball, the big stick? Well, it's only used when Naruto absolutely must kill everyone in the area…

Itachi became worried when the first round cracked his Susanoo and was shocked the second round left a big hole on Susanoo, however he narrowly avoided the third round. Now also facing his former ANBU teammate and a member of the Seven Mist Swordsmen; he was nearly exhausted from using Susanoo. It was obviously the battle was not in his favour. A Wilhelm scream could be heard and a figure crashed into the bridge, leaving a man-size crater. Tazuna groaned and complained at the damage to his bridge.

"You injured too, Kisame?"

"My left arm and right leg were broken…No shit." Kisame was lying on his back frustrated and there were fishes in his mouth before he spat them out. "One day I'm gonna kill that little prick!"

"We can't fight anymore." Itachi picked up his wounded partner. "It seems we will return to Kumo empty-handed." He looked at his brother one more time. "Your hate must be stronger to defeat me, foolish little brother…" The Akatsuki capture team left in shushin and the Uchiha Butcher didn't bother to hear his brother's furious shout at his name.

Being the main fighter against two S-rank ninjas, Naruto was exhausted too and he dropped his left knee panting. It was the most dangerous fight he ever had in his shinobi career.

"**Not bad, kid, not bad, you and your mate managed to drive two S-rank ninjas away albeit with some helps and some of my chakra.**" Kurama complimented with a thumb up. "**You still need to get stronger before you face Madara, and I think it's time for you to sign the contract.** **Time for you to meet my friends.**"

XXXXXXXXX

_Three Hours Later_

_Gato's Hideout_

Naruto's enemy was the Cloud Village, particularly the Raikage, and the rebel side of the Mist would definitely share the same sentiment when they learned what Kumo had been doing to their people. The enemy of my enemy should be considered a friend, and that's why Naruto didn't kill the Demon of the Mist in the first place.

Now Naruto, Kakashi and Zabuza were having a meeting in one of the rooms with privacy seals set. Three hundred Naruto's shadow clones were assisting Tazuna on his bridge building efforts, to speed up the construction. Since the run in with two S-rank missing-nins, Itachi and Kisame, hired by the Raikage, Naruto didn't want to stay in the open and who knew what the damn gori would send next.

All other people including Hinata and the Team 7 genins were busy processing Gato's resources or helping the Wave people; Hinata and Haku were treating the injured bridge workers. Team 7 and the Mist hit team would take their due payments from the tycoon's treasury while the rest would be distributed to the local people. Speaking about Gato, Kisame's shark technique gave Naruto an idea how to take care the tycoon for his heinous crimes. The tycoon became shark food.

Black incised Gato's nerve clusters and sent electrical shocks directly into his nerves as to torture to punish him. Then the midget shared the same fate with the Kumo doctors as there was a kunai up in his ass; the only difference was the kunai was coated in wind release, a much more painful experience. No punishment was too great for a scum like Gato who was responsible for so much misery and death. The tycoon screamed like a swine and wished he was never born, before he was skinned and thrown to sharks.

"You are lucky you and your companion travelled south, Zabuza." Naruto finished telling the two jonins his and Hinata's tales in Kumo. "But your friend Raiga wasn't that so lucky..."

"Huh? What do you mean? What happened to Raiga?"

"Because you all are on the Kumo's hunting list, including that Sashimi. My former employer would love to get his filthy hands on your Executioner Blade, and your faithful Hyoton friend would be considered a bonus. Kumo has been breeding people with bloodlines and is preparing for wars, even against Kirigakure. The civil war is a damn opportunity to invade. And regarding Raiga, your friend is now with his ancestors... Oh, and on a personal note, Raiga had a sick tendency of burying people alive and in the end he ranted and raved how much he still hated you and wanted to kill you."

"Sounds like him, asshole to the end. Hahaha..." Zabuza chuckled and Kakashi followed suit despite the fact they had a hard time believing the blond in front of them personally slayed a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Zabuza recalled the story of a mere Konoha genin who fought with taijutsu only, but bold enough to face the whole Seven Mist Swordsmen in the last war. Although that guy died at the swords of the swordsmen of the Mist, but he did take out three of them, including his predecessor and the rest were all heavily wounded. Minato's brat took out a member of the elite group and he drove off the most powerful one, not to mention Kakashi nearly killed him before they were both knocked out by the boy. Hell, Konoha people always did crazy stunt.

"Enough of our tale. Now to the deal we wanna talk about, Zabuza," Naruto brought up the main discussion topic which got Zabuza's attention. "If I'm right, the reason why you took this job despite you knew Gato was a scum, is that you want to fund the rebellion against the Yondaime Mizukage, right?"

"Uh-huh." Zabuza solemnly nodded.

"That asshole Yagura has been ordering the genocide of families with bloodlines, and many of your people escaped that hellhole called the Water Country and only to end up in another called Kumo thanks to another asshole, the Yondaime Raikage... I've saved as many as I could from that place, but there are still many trapped and suffering there… Anyway, you gave me Gato. Now it's my turn to reach my end of the deal. I'll return you the Kiba swords to help your efforts against Yagura. And I am going to give you some of my gold bars from the Uzumaki clan: three hundred of them. This is not an international interference from Konoha, as I am not a Konoha shinobi, so consider it a help from the Uzumaki clan. But," Naruto held up a finger as he continued. "My condition is that you will convince Kirigakure to be an ally with the Uzumaki clan, in military and trade, and will join the war against Kumo in case there is one. Kumo is still the strongest despite the damage I inflicted to them, and I doubt even Leaf or Rock can face it alone. This is why the alliance is critically important if we want to preserve everything we hold dear. Surely you and your fellow Mist people will want to get a piece of Kumo for what they have done to your people."

Both Kakashi's and Zabuza's eyes widened at the amount of wealth the blond possessed. To Zabuza, this large amount of gold would certainly raise an army and increase the chance to win the war.

Kakashi, however, had a question. "How did you get the gold bars?" he asked curiously. "Also the armours… you visited Uzushiogakure, right?"

"Yes, I visited mum's home village and took the treasures." Naruto turned to look at Executioner Blade's wielder. "If you agree to end that senseless bloodline purge, and I don't really care if you become the next Mizukage, but you need to convince the new Kiri leadership to form an alliance with the Uzumaki clan, then the gold bars are yours, deal?"

Just as Zabuza was going to agree the deal Asuka stormed in the room with a scroll without knocking the door.

"Sorry to disrupt your meeting, Naruto-kun, but you have to see this!" she said urgently before giving Naruto a scroll.

Confused as to why Asuka would interrupt the meeting and she was excited, Naruto began reading the scroll she liberated from the shipping tycoon. The blond's eyes widened, "My Kami…I can't believe it….I CAN'T believe it." Kakashi and Zabuza curiously leaned closer to Naruto to read the scroll as well.

"Your sis just made a big strategic victory two days ago and she is making a big push!"

XXXXXXXXX

_Next Morning_

The Wind of Freedom had been refuelled, all thanks to Gato's "donation", and was ready to embark for another voyage. The next destination was Water Country. All Water citizens including Asuka were going to go back to their country. A prominent Mist swordsman would be a good protector that they could reach home safe without Naruto, who entrusted Freedom to the swordsman. The blond even gave the Executioner Blade wielder more than a thousand Uzumaki Shield seals which would definitely make the war in the rebel side's favour, and Zabuza had been taught how to properly use them.

The meeting had resumed and Zabuza agreed the deal and he would try to convince Kiri to form an alliance with the Uzumaki clan once the civil war was over. Kiri would join the potential war against Kumo. A copy of Kumo's crimes had been given to Zabuza and Asuka, the leader of the Water refugees. The Uzumaki-Namikaze promised to use the Whirlpool resources to help the rebels with funds and weapons once he got home, and he even offered to fight Yagura, a fellow jinchuuriki, if the rebels needed him.

"Thank you very much for saving some of my clan people. I thought I was the last of my clan." Haku bowed ninety degree to the blond. "And thank you for helping my master to come closer to reaching his dream."

"Ah, don't mention it, Haku. We all want to end that senseless genocide." Naruto smiled. "We are all glad to help anyway."

"I have never seen Zabuza-sama being that happy ever since I became his tool." Naruto quirked his eyebrow and inwardly shook his head in sadness.

"Don't think like that, Haku, please. You are a human being, not a tool."

"But that's my purpose to live…What else am I supposed to live for?" Haku asked sadly and she was confused. "My mother was murdered by my father before I killed him. I was left for dead and unwanted until Zabuza-sama saved me and he gave me a purpose by being his tool. What other purpose do I have to live for?"

"*Sigh*, You don't know how similar we are, Haku… my former employers viewed me and my tailed beast friend Kurama as tools for war, and I'm pretty sure there are some people in Konoha view us in that way, and we both hate that idea very much. Had I not wanted to bring Hinata-chan to her parents and save those trapped in Kumo, I would not bother to return to Konoha. I want to forge my own destiny, probably rebuild Whirlpool Country with my Uzumaki clanswomen. I don't like to talk about other people's privacy, but Zabuza really cares for you in case you don't know, he showed concern for you when I told him what Kumo was up to and what they would do to you when they have you. You can find a better purpose in life as you become his and Asuka-chan's friend and help the people of the Mist. I am sure they will definitely need your helps when the civil war is over and the country being rebuilt."

Naruto put his hands on Haku's shoulders and looked at her eyes. "But please, never consider yourself as a tool. I can tell he just acts tough and hard to hide his true emotion, I know, because we two are very similar. This is just too embarrassing to admit it. Ha!" The blond finished his conversation with a laugh and grinned at the Ice Maiden who was giggling.

"I understand, and I will never consider myself as a tool.…Thank you for everything you have done for us."

They shook hands, before the Hyoton user walked to Hinata to exchange medical knowledge. Asuka walked towards him after bidding goodbye to Hinata. Every Water citizen couldn't wait to go back to their country when they learned the news that the rebel side was winning and peace for Water Country would arrive, faster if they helped. But there was one person not too happy about this.

"Are you sure you and your people want to go back and join the war, Asuka-chan? I can use my royal status to offer you and your people a safe asylum in Fire Country. Isn't it your sister's wish that you can have a safe place to live? I trained you so you can protect yourself, not wars...Please reconsider…" Naruto asked, but Asuka was still determined.

"We really appreciate your offer, Naruto-kun." The auburn haired girl understood why the blond was very reluctant about this, for their well-being. "I know why you don't want us to be involved in wars, but we are not going to fight, we want to help our people! Everyone here wants to end the war as soon as possible. I'll use my medical skills learnt from you to save as many as possible in the war!"

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. "Fair enough…But promise me you will stay safe and happy."

"I will, and you too. We are very grateful of your helps and we will never forget what you did for us. You gave us hope, Naruto-kun... You are a hero to us and we really wish we could find a way to repay the debts."

They were going to separate in a few minutes, and would probably never see each other again. She gave Naruto a quick kiss on his whiskered cheek. Surprised, Naruto gently hugged her in return. The Boil Release girl could still remember the jinchuuriki often came home covered in blood, his, the enemy's, or both. She too knew that he shielded her and the other girls from harm while he took the burden and the stress against suspicion, all for their sake.

To her surprise, despite being one of the most privileged men in Kumo he never touched her and the other girls, but respected them. She doubted other people could stay as sane as he after what he had experienced. Sis had mentioned several times Minato Namikaze was a fine man during the last war and a worthy shinobi, and always entertained the idea meeting and marrying him. Naruto was now even better than his father and he was the noblest man she ever knew. Who wouldn't fall for a guy like Naruto?

Asuka and Sayuri knew that he was taken by Hinata but they wished them happiness. "Please send me the invitation when you and Hinata-chan are going to marry..."

Naruto nodded and smiled back. He watched Mei Terumi's sister boarded the Wind of Freedom and joined Zabuza on the bridge. Fifteen minutes later the ship departed, and everyone on the ship waved him goodbye and shouting "Thank you" to him. He turned to his group and the Konoha Team 7.

Looking at Hinata, Honoka, and Tayuya, Naruto smiled, "Well, only four of us to go back to Konoha."

XXXXXXXXX

_Next Morning_

The Uzumaki group and Team 7 and most of the Wave people were on the now completed bridge, courtesy of Naruto's help. The villagers were curious and wanted to see the one who single-handedly took out Gato and his army of scums.

"Father, we still need to name the bridge." Tsunami said smiling to her father who was smiling too. Peace and prosperity had finally arrived for Wave Country.

"You are right and I think I have the perfect name for the bridge." Tazuna looked at Naruto, who got rid of Gato, helped build his bridge, and returned the stolen wealth back to the people of Wave, despite the brutal way he took out the tyrant. "How about the Great Naruto Bridge?" His fellow villagers mumbled in approval.

"No, thank you." Everyone turned to see Naruto, who shook his head. "That would be awesome and I really appreciate it, but I don't deserve to have a great bridge named after me, but may I recommend to someone who is better than me? You guys should dedicate this bridge to the true hero of your country, Kaiza." Hearing his father's name, Inari raised his head up and looked at the blond, who looked at him in return.

"Inari." Naruto dropped his knees and kindly put his hands on Inari's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Your father was the TRUE hero. He stood despite the overwhelming odd, powerful and armed people and the possibly of being killed. You know what? Gato pissed and crapped his pants when he faced a kid like me." He chuckled. "Can you now see the difference between a courageous hero and a coward scum? It's now all over, don't be sad anymore, and please live happily and to the fullest to honour his memory. I lost my parents when I was born, but I honour their memory by living well."

Everyone was silent and was listening intently, even Sasuke. The blond's words echoed what mum told him. The Uchiha began to wonder if his father and his slain clansmen wanted him to live happily instead of avenge them.

_Don't cry…Inari_. Kaiza's final words to his son.

"Dad…" The boy trembled and sobbed as he recalled the traumatized memory that his father died smiling, despite horribly beaten and was missing two arms, he still wished him the best at his very last moment. Inari kept muttering that he would "live to fullest".

Naruto gently hugged him without saying a word and he was glad Inari finally understood Kaiza's ultimate sacrifice and Tazuna's efforts to bring back the hope to this country.

"Will you come back to visit us, Naruto-niisan?" Inari asked after he let out his emotion.

"I will." He was glad to see the boy's true smile and he ruffled his hair. "I'd like to see you when your country prospers again."

'Thank you for giving us hope again, Naruto-san.' Tazuna and Tsunami thought.

Kakashi felt proud at his sensei's son. 'I'd love to teach your son, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san….'

After bidding goodbye to the people of Wave, the Uzumaki group and Team 7 left the Great Kaiza Bridge for Konoha.

XXXXXXXXX

_Two Days Later_

Sasuke was replaying the battle in his mind as Team 7 and that blond's group were jumping from branch to branch back to Konoha. The genins had questioned their leader who these foreigners were and why they were going to Konoha with them. Their jonin leader told them would know why later. The battle the mysterious blond and his Hyuuga girlfriend against his brother and his shark-face partner had left a deep impression to Sasuke. Itachi's partner was strong too but the couple managed to drive them off albeit with some assistance. Perhaps he could learn something from the blond; he would have a talk with him later. They would arrive in Konoha in an hour.

"Naruto, may I ask you a question?" Seeing his surrogate brother nodded, Kakashi continued. "Why did you ask Zabuza to form an alliance with the Uzumaki clan instead of Konoha?"

"Well, the gold and the Shield fuinjutsu belong to the Uzumaki clan, not Konoha. I know what you are asking about, Kakashi-niisan." Naruto replied. "There is a reason why I did this. I read the Konoha academy textbooks bought from the black market when we were in Kumo. And you know what? There is no mention of the Uzumaki clan! Konoha wouldn't have won the three world wars without the seal arts from the Uzumaki clan, and not to mention Mito-sama and mum being the jinchuuriki to Kurama. Is that how Konoha honours the Uzumaki clan and their sacrifice?"

Kakashi was shocked at this information, how could the Uzumaki history be removed from the academy curriculum? The Konoha jonin didn't say anything as they continued their trip until Naruto broke the silence.

"Kakashi-niisan, you know a boy named Ranmaru?"

"So it's YOU who sent Ranmaru to Konoha. He told us that he was with Raiga and a masked man brought him to be picked up by a Konoha patrol with a scroll to Lady Tsunade. It was really you, and you gave Lady Tsunade those one hundred gold bars, you should have seen her confused and joyed face when she saw them!"

Naruto laughed. "I sent Ranmaru to Konoha for treatment and protection, and I need someone I can trust in Konoha, and Tsunade is the best one to do this. I hoped the gold could convince the Legendary Sucker to look after Ranmaru and settle her debts. Ranmaru is kind and nice, and I hoped he could heal Tsunade's sorrows."

"Indeed, Ranmaru and Shizune helped Lady Tsunade finally overcome her hemophobia. Then why did you hide your identity when you sent Ranmaru to Konoha? You could have told us that you and Hinata were in Kumo since you had been in Konoha's border, why didn't you ask for help?"

"I know many people are searching for us, but there are also many people involved in our abduction and they don't want us to come back. Intelligence leakage would happen, and I have no doubt Kumo would hide its crimes and deny everything. There are so many lives at stake and I couldn't afford to take any big risk. There was no room for a single mistake. Kurama and I know there is a jinchuuriki as my replacement in Konoha but we decided not to inform Konoha and even asked him not to talk about it."

"I see, I understand. But you will have to explain this to the Hokage and Tsunade too. About Ranmaru, he graduated with my genins' class and became a shinobi, and he was sent to replace a WIA member in Team Shizune, which was formed last year."

"I see…" Naruto was in deep thought. 'Interesting, it seems Ranmaru wants to become strong, and I'd like to see how strong he has become.'

"Also, I hate to break it to you but there was an electrical fire accident in your parents' house seven years ago…"

"SAY WHAT!?" Everyone stopped and turned around to look at Naruto.

"I know you will be very upset about this, but the fire destroyed everything in the house…" The copy-nin still remembered that the fire was so great that even the water jutsu couldn't immediately extinguish it. By the time the fire died down everything Minato and Kushina had there had been gone.

Naruto took the news very bad. He held his head in his hands in distress and walked aimlessly in the forest, and failed to notice a worried Hinata approaching him.

"OH GREAT. THIS IS GREAT! How come there was an electrical fire in a place where no one lived for so long?" Naruto furiously started to smash trees. The genins of Team 7 were shocked to see his rampage and the damage to the humongous trees, his Uzumaki clanswomen looked at him sadly.

"That motherfucking gori estimated I'd learn the Hiraishin from scratch in A YEAR! But there are less than ninety days left before B-sensei and Yugito-sensei come back. WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! The Hiraishin is probably LOST FOREVER! If Kumo refuses to surrender to the alliance of Konoha, Suna and Iwa, then the Hiraishin is the best shot at pressuring Kumo into surrendering without a war! FUCK!"

"Naruto-kun, CALM DOWN! I know you are very angry, but your parents were seal masters, their scrolls could be protected by barrier seals or hidden somewhere else. Kurama probably knows where they are. Even if the Hiraishin is lost, you can still find an alternative way, can't you? The Hiraishin isn't the only option, right?" Hinata's words always had magic effects whenever his emotions got the better of him.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan," Naruto took a deep breath and took Hinata's hands that had the mysterious effect of calming him down. "But I'm so upset my parents' mementos were all lost…"

"You are your parents' legacy, Naruto-kun." She stroked his face with her hands as she comforted her lover. "You are their most important memento."

"Thanks Hinata-chan." Naruto sighed in frustration and rubbed his temples before taking a deep breath. "Kakashi-niisan, sorry I am not in the mood to talk anymore now until we reach Konoha."

'Gee… Now I'm so glad I did ask Zabuza to ally with the Uzumaki clan in foresight. In case Konoha fails to honour the Uzumaki clan, I'm going to use the alliance with Iwa and Kiri to rebuild Whirlpool…Heck, I might even offer Hiashi the position of co-founding clan for the Hyuuga in the Neo-Uzushiogakure.'

XXXXXXXXX

Thirty minutes later the gates Konoha were coming into their views and they could see the Hokage Monument. It's been nearly ten years since they were abducted. The Uzumaki group stopped to don their masks to avoid unwanted attention, not caring for Team 7 genins' confusion.

Naruto and Hinata held hands tightly as they passed through the gate. They were finally back to their birth village and somehow they felt a little nostalgic. Based on his memory, Naruto noted some in Konoha changed and the rest remained the same. The bust of the Yondaime Hokage on the monument seemed to smile and welcome his son and future daughter in law home.

As they were walking towards the Hokage Tower, Naruto felt very hot on his chest. He stopped to take the Uzumaki ruby from his shirt, and it was just like when he found Honoka and Tayuya. The **Reclaimer** was again radiating brightly when they were getting closer to the tower.

"It's radiating again?" Tayuya raised an eyebrow when Kakashi knocked the office door and there was a feminine response telling them to come in. "There's an Uzumaki here?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded and smiled. The ruby radiated the brightest as they walked into the office.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*Beta: AnarionRising27 and Lord Farsight

*The Cruise mode is one of the two Futon Armour modes that specialized in marine warfare. The close range one that fought the Raikage in the last chapter, the **Duel** mode, isn't suitable to fight in this chapter.

*The Wind Strike shape is similar to the Zeratul's Warped Blade in StarCraft; beside Zeratul is an assassin too.

*About the Shield seal, nothing is invincible. Every person or technique has weaknesses, even the Uzumaki Shield seal. One Shield seal could only seal ONE ninjutsu or genjutsu, so an armour could only seal a limited number of ninjutsu or genjutsu so the user must use the seals wisely, i.e. don't seal D-rank or C-rank techniques. Also Shield seal could not seal Susanoo. But Naruto might develop an advanced Shield seal technique later.

*Yes, Tayuya had the Heal Bite ability. The Uzumaki Reclaimer ruby also helps the remaining Uzumakis by awaking their recessive genetic traits or enhancing their abilities, to let them have a better chance to survive the fields. Hence Honoka and Tayuya have their potential abilities awakened. Naruto won't get the chakra chains or heal bite ability, he might have something else.

*There is a wide mass confusion on Haku's gender. I sought advice from AnarionRising27, Lord Farsight and Leaf Ranger, and we all believe Haku is a she.

*I don't bash on any character, no matter how dickhead they are. I just write based on their personalities and what I believe they would respond to situations, and I want to be fair. In canon, Sasuke was still a decent person during the Wave mission, and he even shielded Naruto from Haku's attacks.

*The main villains in this story are the gori and the snake, and probably a certain war hawk.


	9. Finally Home

Collaboration: Fan1One.

Beta: AnarionRising19 and Lord Farsight.

This chapter wraps up the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident. The Japanese-honorifics are dropped.

Minato's heritage is revealed in this chapter. His grandfather's interactions with Minato and Naruto were very similar to with his brother. Beside, Minato and Naruto were both the most proficient in his invented techniques.

* * *

_Hokage Office_

Nearly ten years ago Tsunade Senju and her apprentice Shizune had been recalled to Konoha, S level-priority. The Yodaime's former student told them they would be debriefed once they returned, much to their bewilderment. They coincidentally arrived with Jiraiya, who was equally confused, and they were all horrified at what they learned: her cousin and student Kushina's son had been kidnapped along with the Hyuuga heiress, the daughter of her another student. She and her perverted teammate Jiraiya were shocked and furious beyond words. How could sensei screw up this badly?

They angrily confronted their sensei about this and even brought up the incident involving their traitorous teammate, demanding answers: how could Sarutobi let this happen under his nose? The two Sannin were then surprised and shocked at what they saw: the Nidaime's prized student couldn't stop apologizing tearfully and it pained them greatly when they saw how old and tired he had become.

It was their first time to see the mighty God of Shinobi broken down like this and it was seared into their memory forever. Then a realization hit both Tsunade and Jiraiya: sensei shouldn't have retaken the Hokage position in the wake of Minato's death and he should have enjoyed his long overdue retirement with his wife Biwako. But who else could take control of that situation? Tsunade also realized she had a fair share to be blamed for. The Namikaze-Hyuuga incident and those inhumane experiments wouldn't have happened had she stayed in the village.

Probably. Well, hindsight is always the best. Her presence still couldn't stop the Uchiha tragedy and her student Mikoto's operation failed despite its 65% success rate…due to her fear of blood. Like her sensei she couldn't stop apologizing to her student despite Mikoto kindly saying it was alright. Even to this day the Senju Princess still blamed herself for this.

Things couldn't be worse, could they? Too bad fate was a bitch. Those tiresome elders, especially that war hawk Danzo Shimura. He had been cleared and was able to prove he was innocent, that he wasn't responsible for the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident. But he and the two elders were still a complete pain in the ass. They had somehow found out there was a new jinchuuriki in Konoha a few months after her arrival, much to their anger and joy. The anger was for being kept in the dark, and the joy for the security and the good of Konoha.

But…they dropped this bombshell during a meeting in the council, and then all hell broke loose. Tsunade sighed as she still remembered the heated argument between Sarutobi and the three elders with the civilian councillors. The former ROOT leader had even suggested intensely that the jinchuuriki should receive further training instead of the standard ninja academy to protect Konoha due to the tensions with Iwa and Kumo. The Hokage rejected the idea as Kushina never received the so-called jinchuuriki training and she became a splendid kunoichi nevertheless. Kushina even gained the moniker of Red Death in the last war.

A civilian councillor bad mouthed Kushina and her son by calling them demon whore and demon spawn respectively and it touched the Hokage's sore spot. Something in Sarutobi snapped and a monstrous killing intent waved the council chamber and directed at that civilian. The dumb bastard was scared to the point he crapped and wet himself before a heart attack claimed his life. This made the rest of the scared civilian councillors and the three elders learn their place: the council was an advisory body to Hokage and Konoha was a shinobi village which was run by dictatorship. Nobody messed with the Hokage.

It pleased her and the rest of the shinobi councillors that the God of Shinobi was back. The Hokage immediately and coldly passed a decree: no one could reveal the status of the jinchuuriki on the pain of death. Everything started to turn out for better, and soon all important policies that were essential to Konoha were passed, including her dream: the Konoha Medic Corps.

However a few days later the jinchuuriki started to pay the price as those damn councillors began their petty reprisals. They circumvented the Third's laws and incited the civilians to abuse her: refusing services and told their children to keep a distance from her.

Poor girl. Fortunately the Aburame heir was always there for her. Then at the encouragement of their parents, other clan heirs and heiresses began to be with her, including that Haruno girl at the Yamanaka's invitation despite her councillor auntie's objection. The jinchuuriki didn't succumb to hatred and didn't lose control. The girl didn't give any chance to the justification to receive Danzo's training.

Last year a boy named Ranmaru came to Konoha. The boy claimed he had been with one of the infamous Mist Seven Swordsmen and that he didn't know the identity of the masked man who killed Raiga Kurosuki. To her and her inner circle's shock, Ranmaru came with a fortune in gold bars and those 100 gold bars were 3 times as large as the standard gold bullions! The scroll contained a letter asking her to take care of Ranmaru and the gold was considered a payment and a gift on the condition she controlled her gambling addiction. With the help from everyone and this kind boy, she finally overcame her fear of blood.

However everyone couldn't help but wonder: who was this generous donor that took out the swordsman? To her annoyance, Jiraiya made a bad joke that she still had an admirer despite her age before he took his share of punishment. Of course she knew the underneath meaning of that bad joke, and knew that her perverted teammate still loved her…Could he still love her when she cancelled her henge?

The Legendary Sucker had honoured the requests from the letter to settle her debts. She would try to quit her gambling addiction and would one day return the remaining gold back to that generous donor.

With the encouragement from sensei, Jiraiya, Minato's last student Kakashi, and her other two genin students, the Slug Sannin finally accepted the position of Godaime Hokage in honour of Dan, Nawaki, Kushina, Minato and Naruto. Tsunade would soon become the Fifth Fire Shadow after the Chunin Exam which was coming in a month. She always smiled when Sarutobi and Hitomi often mentioned that Naruto always wanted to become Hokage; Minato and Kushina's kid shared the same aspiration with her lover Dan and her brother Nawaki.

Team Shizune would later be renamed Team Anko after the former became the Godaime's secretary and Anko Mitarashi had been promoted to jonin along with Tsume Inuzuka and Ibiki Morino. Sensei, Jiraiya, Mikoto Uchiha, and Hitomi Hyuuga would become her advisors as Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado retired on her conditions to become Hokage. Oh, she would have loved to have Kushina as her advisor too…

Speaking of Kushina and Minato, Iwa and Kumo had been frantically building up their power when they had learned about their son. Naruto's existence had caused a global panic and it rocked the world. It kind of amused her that Iwa's population threw feasts to celebrate Minato's death for a few hours until the second runner raced home with the shocking news of the Yellow Flash's son's birth. Too bad she couldn't see their expression. Then everything strangely quieted down when the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident happened. However, Iwa resumed aggressive actions later, evident by the frequent border clashes in Fire Country.

Now Earth Country's borders mysteriously quieted down but there was a large Kumo presence on the Fire Country's northern border and eastern coast ten days ago. The Konoha leadership couldn't help but wonder: What was going on?

Jiraiya had left to investigate the incursion. Now with sensei's help she was slowly winning the battle of paperwork and getting accustomed to the job of Hokage. Then a knock on the door was heard that would change her world yet again.

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"Enter!" Tsunade shouted after seeing the Hokage nod while still buried in paperwork.

A few seconds later Team 7 jonin leader came in with four masked individuals wearing the old black Uzumaki armours, which looked like plated armours on both back and front and additional shoulder platings, similar to the ones the Senju and Uchiha clans wore in the founding of Konoha.

"Good afternoon, Hokage, Team 7 returning from the Wave Country mission, which was supposed to be a simple C-rank mission but turned to a A-rank bordering to an S-rank mission.'' Kakashi reported and looked at the Sandaime and the future Godaime busy at paperwork. He paused for a moment he didn't want to say that it was borderline to S since the run in with Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.

"Also with some interesting companions that go by the names of Honoka Uzumaki, Tayuya Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."

"WHAT!?" both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade Senju shouted.

Naruto removed his masks and his friends followed suit. "It's been nearly ten years, Grandpa Hokage. Long time no see, how have ya been?" The whiskered blond smiled. "How do you do Auntie Tsunade?"

Nawaki?! The Slug Princess thought her deceased brother had come back to life, but it wasn't her brother after she rubbed her eyes.

The Hokage's pipe dropped on the ground shocked to see who they were, while Tsunade dropped her papers to the ground. Looking at the blond hair, blue eyes, and the six whisker marks on his face he then turned to blue-black haired girl with a pair of lavender-tinted white eyes. They shared the same facial features with the abducted heir of the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan and the heiress of the Hyuuga clan.

"Naruto, Hinata, is it really you?"

"Yes, it's us, Lady Tsunade."

Naruto's surrogate brother added with his patented eye-smile. "Yep, Pakkun even confirmed that it's them. We bumped into them in Wave."

Hiruzen felt tears coming to his eyes. He couldn't believe it; the two long lost children were finally back despite they were like…teenagers? The Sandaime had been tormented by the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident for almost ten years, and now he could free himself from it at last and he could now face Kushina and Minato in the afterlife. Tears started to flow from the Hokage's eyes.

Tsunade went to bear hug Naruto since he was the little bit of family that she had left in the world beside Shizune. "Why do you two look like teenagers?" The whiskered blond was even taller than her. "You two are just nearly 13 years old."

"How about we wait until the Hokage calls for a meeting of the council because we don't want to repeat what we are going to say?" Hinata suggested before she introduced the Uzumaki women. "Lord Hokage, Lady Tsunade, these two are Naruto's fellow Uzumaki clanswomen, Honoka and Tayuya. They dyed their hair so they could hide themselves and thanks to them we were able to escape from our abductors."

"Nice to meet you, Lord Hokage, Lady Tsunade." Honoka and Tayuya bowed respectfully.

The Professor and the Slug Sannin couldn't believe it; they knew the Uzumaki clan of Uzushio was scattered around the world in the Second Shinobi World War. It was done by the Combine which was composed of Cloud, Rock and Mist the three shinobi superpower villages and Grass, Sky and other minor shinobi villages. Besides Naruto, there were two Uzumakis right now in his office. It was something that the Sandaime Hokage never expected. He only expected that Team 7 returned from their first C ranked mission but no, the mission was upgraded to A-rank and bordering to S-rank. He was curious as to why it turned to S-rank, he and his second successor would read the Team 7 jonin's report later.

"I will assemble the council meeting to inform everyone, everyone will be overjoyed to see the two of you are finally back." The Hokage was preparing to call for the council. He would like this to be presented to just the shinobi council, but the civilian councillors would raise hell like that Nanabi incident.

However Naruto stopped him with a scroll saying it contained information about their disappearance. The scroll contained information incriminating those involved in their kidnapping. Hiruzen's and Tsunade's eyes widened seeing that members from the civilian council and two Hyuuga elders planned this to happen.

"Kumo?" Tsunade gritted. "And these councillors and the Hyuuga elders were behind this?"

Naruto nodded and decided to give them another scroll. "The last scroll will nail the coffin shut."

Their eyes widened to see the Raikage's signature giving the Kumo ambassador instructions on how to execute the kidnapping.

The office was filled by massive killing intents that Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya twitched at and ANBU responded by storming into the room with weapons at hand, the Sandaime waved them off and told them to assemble the council in an hour. He also instructed them to tell Hitomi Hyuuga to come with her husband.

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Tsunade saw the radiating ruby necklace Naruto held was as large as her grandfather's crystal necklace.

"Auntie, this is the Uzumaki Reclaimer my maternal grandfather created. It contains a mass array of complex seals." Naruto introduced. "Its primary purpose is to help me to find an Uzumaki within the range of 300 metres radius. Its secondary use is to awaken an Uzumaki's potential power and enhance his or her abilities, so people have a better chance to survive the fields."

"I'm gonna awaken your potential, so put it on your palm and hold it tightly."

Tsunade felt a small sting on her hand and saw a tiny amount of her blood being absorbed by the stone. She would have freaked out had she not overcame her fear of blood.

"The ruby registers your blood and chakra so it won't ask me to look for you again and you will receive a gift. Also, in case you go missing or something, the ruby can extend up to 30 kilometres search radius with my sensor ability for you when I activate it." Naruto explained as the unbelievable happened. The Sannin was glowing red for several seconds as several red lines snaked on her body, and she felt very hot and had some difficulty breathing. It was temporary as the heat and the red lines receded back to the stone.

Everyone was silent and was holding their breath to see what gift Tsunade had received. The Shodai's granddaughter felt more powerful and vigorous and she deactivated her special henge to see the result by looking at her arms before she grabbed a mirror to see her face. To her surprise, she had no wrinkle or flaw. Was it a dream? She again performed the necessary hand signs to deactivate her henge and rechecked it but it was not a dream.

"I-I feel like twenty years younger…I can't believe it…"

"Wow…" All the present, especially Hinata, the Hokage and Kakashi were astounded by what had happened.

"It seems the longevity trait in your Uzumaki blood has been awakened, Auntie Tsunade." Naruto read the temporary tiny texts on the ruby before they disappeared. "You won't get a special ability or upgrade like Honoka with chakra chains and Tayuya with heal bite. You wouldn't mind that because you are a Sannin, would you?"

"So what have you gained from the ruby, Naruto?" The curious Team 7 jonin leader asked.

"Wisdom and leadership. The ruby has granted me these two most important things to lead the Uzumaki clan and to look out for their well-beings. But I think the reason I don't gain access to the Uzumaki bloodline limits is that the more potent Namikaze blood…Just like Senju in Auntie Tsunade's case. This also explains why I have blond hair instead of red hair."

"I think I have the answer to that…" Everyone turned to the Sandaime who was smoking his pipe and walking towards the windows to see the Hokage Monument, particularly the giant bust of his sensei. "I think it's time to let you people know this: Naruto has Senju blood…Tobirama's daughter married a member of the Namikaze clan and gave birth to Minato. But sensei's daughter and her husband died in the early stage in the second war and Minato hence became an orphan not knowing about his parents. I told him his heritage when he was promoted to chunin during the wartime and I gave him sensei's scrolls in the hope he could master the Hiraishin to win the war."

Everyone's eyes widened at this revelation, they looked the Hokage pictures of the Nidaime's and Yondaime's. Despite the hair colours, but they had strong resemblance in hair style, eyes and facial structure. Tears started to flow Tsunade's eyes before they fell. She couldn't believe it. Not only was Kushina her cousin, so was Minato.

"Then why?" Tsunade asked. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"I don't know. But my best guess is that he wasn't in rush to tell you this because you already had supports from your genin students for Dan and Nawaki. Not to mention he was our trump card in the last war and he was always away…He planned to tell you after Naruto's birth but he and Kushina were gone..."

It saddened her that Minato didn't connect to be a family with her, but it made her cherish everything she'd got now. Beside Shizune and Ranmaru…Looking at Naruto, Honoka, Tayuya, she had more people to call a family. Naruto was surprised at his father's heritage as well. He wondered if Hiraishin was a second Senju bloodline limit beside Mokuton. But then another question popped up: how come the Hokage Guard Platoon could use Hiraishin? He found his answer while looking at his surrogate brother and his eye patch: a non-Uchiha could still use Sharingan well.

There's hope for Hiraishin. He would ask the Hokage about his father's and great-grandfather's scrolls later, or he would seek the platoon for help.

From the windows Sarutobi saw the council members arriving at the Hokage Tower. "The councillors have arrived. We'll talk about this later."

As everyone left the office to attend the meeting, Tsunade asked a tower staff to guide Honoka and Tayuya around Konoha, and they would un-dye their hair.

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_Konoha Council Chamber_

Gently putting her crutch to the side, Mikoto sat on the Uchiha seat after greeting her fellow councillors, including her Hyuuga teammate Hitomi. Everyone was wondering why the Hyuuga matriarch was here; even Hitomi was confused as to why she'd been asked to come. The last time she'd been in the council meeting was when the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident happened.

Mikoto still painfully remembered that emergency council meeting her husband and she attended nearly ten years ago and seeing Hitomi's crying face as Hiashi tried his best to comfort her, even the Hyuuga patriarch was fighting back his tears for their daughter and their surrogate son. While the shinobi councillors were all shocked and sad but remained neutral, the civilian councillors were pointing fingers towards Fugaku and the Uchiha clan for the incident despite both Hiashi and Hitomi's vouching that the Uchihas were not to blame.

This incident and the Kyuubi incident were the catalyst that finally pushed Fugaku into orchestrating a coup which led to the downfall of the Uchiha clan. She was shocked when she read her husband's diary after the massacre: Fugaku planned to involve the whole clan in the coup, but only abandoned this idea due to sensei's and Hitomi's frequent visits to the Uchiha compound. They had unknowingly saved the clan from total destruction.

After the massacre, everyone turned sympathetic to the Uchiha clan. Civilian councillor Sakiri had been harassing the Uchiha matriarch boasting her undying loyal support for the great Uchihas. But to her, Hitomi's and Tsunade's frustration, the Sakiri and the rest of the civilian councillors had managed to remove the important history of the Uzumaki clan from Konoha academy textbooks to spite Kushina. Sakiri often suggested a marriage between her son Sasuke and the councillor's niece Sakura. The Uchiha matriarch of course knew the shallow intentions behind: exploiting the political situation and the population supports to the councillor's advantage, and to regain the civilian's power in the Konoha leadership.

Mikoto however politely declined and said that the marriage would be up to the children. But the fawning had become more frequent ever since the children were assigned to the same team. She checked Sakura Haruno's records and found nothing remarkable beside her excellent chakra control and book smart, the latter which was definitely useless in the field. Not to mention this girl had the typical fan girl attitude that her son held great contempt at. The Uchiha jonin wondered how this kind of girl managed to graduate top and was assigned to be with her and the Inuzuka matriarch's sons and one of the top jonins.

Turning to the direction of the Shimura clan seat, she cast a glance on the clan head and…the leader of the disbanded ROOT organization. The Sandaime had privately told her that the jinchuuriki was supposed to arrive in Konoha a few months after the massacre, but he deliberately delayed the schedule to ensure the Uchiha clan's safety from him…the architect behind the massacre, to honour her eldest son's wish.

Mikoto's reminiscing stopped when the chamber doors opened; the Hokage and her sensei came in, followed by her son's jonin sensei. What caught her and other councillors' attention was the two following masked individuals in old Uzumaki armours, which the civilians failed to recognized. Every councillor in the chamber watched in awe that the taller one, a katana strapped on his back, was radiating a regal aura.

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The Hokage began to address the council after he and the future Godaime took their seats, while Kakashi and the two masked individuals stood behind the Senju princess. "I called this meeting because of some information I have come across shows that some people in this very room are traitors and they have committed high treason." Everyone hearing this coming from the Hokage wondered what's going on, including Danzo, Homura and Koharu.

"Traitors? Who?" Sato wondered aloud what was going on, while his fellow councillor Sakiri looked at Tsunade wondering if this was a stunt she was trying to pull to suppress the civilian council's power further more in Konoha. 'I can't afford to lose control. Sakura is close to Sasuke and once he becomes the clan head, I will know everything that goes on in Konoha, and the wealth, power, honour I will have it all when she marries him.' She turned to the shinobi side; certainly someone from that side was a traitor.

"The traitors are involved in the abduction of two very important children in Konoha nearly ten years ago…" Tsunade said venomously as she nodded to the two children who removed their masks. Once the masks were off everyone gasped and eyes widened recognizing who they were, they thought their beloved Yondaime had come back to life.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of Minato Namikaze the Yondaime Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki the Whirlpool Princess, the heir of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans and the Land of Whirlpool."

"I am Hinata Hyuuga, daughter of Hiashi and Hitomi Hyuuga, the heiress of the Hyuuga clan."

Everyone was stunned in disbelief except Hitomi who was quickly walking to them. Her hands covered her mouth and tears were running down her cheeks. The Hyuuga matriarch did not believe at what she saw: the girl in front of her bore a strong resemblance to herself despite her eldest daughter was supposed to look like a pre-teen.

"Hinata? Naruto?" The children nodded. Yes, the girl was definitely her own flesh and blood.

"Hinata!" Hitomi engulfed her daughter in a tight hug, crying in joy to see her alive and fine. "I missed you so much! My daughter! Kami knows how much I missed you! Thank Kami you are safe!"

"I missed you too Mother!" Hinata was crying too. She felt a pang in her heart when she noticed her parents had aged as they had a few strands of white hair.

"Hinata…" Hiashi quietly joined to hug his daughter and was trying to keep his dignity as not to cry in joy in front of the people.

While everyone was watching the reunion of parents with their daughter, Naruto smiled in relief. He finally brought his Hinata back to her parents; nothing else could describe this happiness as this burden was lifted from his shoulders.

Hinata was finally home. Kurama was congratulating him and all of his hard work and sacrifice had finally paid off, he was so glad it was done. Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and complimented him silently with his patented eye smile, proud of what his sensei's son had done. The Hokage and the Slug Sannin were also smiling complimenting him and he smiled back to thank all of them.

"How?" Hiashi broke the silence before Naruto answered by giving him a scroll.

"The Kumo ambassador was the one, and it was the Raikage behind it all." Sato and Sakiri hearing what the Hyuuga clan head said started to pale while Hiashi continued to read more down the scroll. "Sato and Sakiri were responsible as they provided information and assisted the kidnapping. You got drunken mobs to stir up trouble so the Uchiha police was distracted."

Hiashi continued reading the scroll. "The Raikage's memo says Sato sold Naruto as the Kyuubi to Kumo for hefty amount of money, and Sakiri just wanted to get rid of Hinata so her niece could get closer to the heir of Namikaze and Uzumaki clans."

The incriminated councillors trembled at the killing intents coming from the shinobi councillors; even the most stoic elder Danzo was releasing a monstrous amount of killing intent and fury. A wet spot appeared on Sato's pants.

Hiashi continued reading barely controlling his rage, "Sakiri…you had my daughter kidnapped while some of my clan elders helped you?"

Sakiri's crime in the past came back to bite her in the butts. Everything she had planned for was ruined. "YES! Sakura told me he always hung around with her, while she never got a chance to even talk to him! And your elders wanted to get rid of her because she was obviously against the Hyuuga TRADITIONS!"

She lost it.

"That's it. ANBU, arrest Sakiri and Sato and take them to Ibiki," the Hokage ordered. "All those involved will be sent to death row after the interrogation." The shinobi watched with no sympathy while the civilians watched in horror as the two civilian councillors were led away. It pleased the shinobi councillors to see the manipulative civilians being dealt with. Tsunade would drop another bombshell later, to finally rid herself of those civilian councillors once and for all. Hiashi passed the scroll to the jonin commander Shikaku, the latter shook his head in disappointment seeing how everything was done.

"Thank Kami that they have returned home safe…" Mikoto muttered to herself while wiping a tear off her face, "I will help and protect your son Kushina…I WILL." The Uchiha matriarch was sad and angry that the councillors did this, accusing the Uchiha clan in the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident, then started to kiss ass after the massacre.

Hearing his mother's name, Naruto turned to the source and noticed a crutch next to who he recognized as his Uchiha auntie. 'So the rumour's true that she's crippled in the massacre.' Naruto thought about his mother's friend. 'Then I have to ask Tayuya for a favour…Yeah she's gonna complain about this.'

Homura adjusted his glasses. "So you've been held captive in Kumogakure all this time?"

Naruto and Hinata turned to look at the elder before turning to Hiruzen who nodded. Hinata nodded and decided to tell her part first shocking everyone.

"Sex slave? You were a slave for the purpose of breeding there?" Hitomi was shocked and horrified that her daughter had been treated like a slave and a breeding stock.

Hinata nodded but smiled at Naruto. "Yes, Kumo uses females as breeders so they can have even more shinobi with bloodline limits." This news greatly disturbed everyone in the chamber, only Danzo remained unfazed, instead he felt that Kumo was smart and practical for doing this to increase their shinobi power in bloodline limit carriers.

"They wanted to reproduce Byakugan through me, and they wanted to breed Hiraishin and Uzumaki high chakra reserve and chakra chains through Naruto. But fortunately Naruto found me when we were nine years old, and he used his high ranking to protect me from harm and we've been together ever since."

Then it's Naruto's turn to tell his story starting how he was a Kumo ninja and how he was able to destroy the seal and recovered his sealed memories leaving out the part of receiving help from Kurama.

"Jinchuuriki…do you have any control of the Kyuubi by any chance?" Danzo leaned forward on his cane. He was very interested at what Kumo did to the Konoha's jinchuuriki.

"**Kid, you better watch out for this guy. He's Danzo Shimura, and he was the one to suggest an assassination on B. Your parents had mentioned that he was very dangerous. To what level, I don't know, I can't even sense his malice.**" Kurama warned. "**But he is definitely not the one to be trifled with.**"

"Yes, I have control of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I received training from Kumo's jinchuurikis." Tsunade stopped him before he went any further, as the Yamanaka clan head raised his hand to ask Naruto and Hinata a question.

"How did you escape?" Inoichi asked.

Hinata smiled and told the tale of their escape as everyone listened intently: Naruto used his shadow clones to place advanced explosive tags all around Kumo, almost destroying every military structure. Naruto reluctantly admitted he had visited Uzushiogakure to use her techniques and equipment when Koharu and the other shinobi councillors bombarded them with questions about the Uzumaki armours and seals they used.

"There was a tunnel created in fear of the invasion led by the Yellow Flash in the last war and we used it to evacuate as many slaves as possible." Hinata concluded and skipped the part about those ex-Kumo ninjas and their families to protect them.

Everyone was shocked at the facts Naruto sealed the jinchuurikis of the Nibi and Hachibi in a space-time world and nearly killed the Raikage twice. Not to mention that he drove Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki away in Wave Country. Mikoto winced at the mention of her eldest son, while Hiruzen's pipe fell on the floor. Nearly killing a kage and held off two S-rank ninjas were incredible, no one in the age of 12 could do this!

But everyone even Hinata was confused when Naruto left a cryptic message that he would play tic-tac-toe on the Raikage next time he met him.

"That's quite a tale, Naruto, Hinata. Kumo kidnapped children with bloodline limits from Water and Earth Countries, especially Water, to increase their numbers with bloodline limits...Sort of the exact opposite situation with Kiri." Tsunade commented.

"Yeah, but let's just say Kumo learned a very hard and painful lesson."

Tsunade hearing this turned to Hinata asking what Naruto meant. She gave Tsunade a report that she, Asuka and Sayuri wrote prior the escape. "Here you go, Lady Tsunade."

The world's best medic took the report and read the first line before doing a double take. "Wait. You both took growth acceleration drugs? Is that the reason you look like teens? And the fertility pills? Some of the ingredients are unknown and might not be safe! What is the Kumo leadership THINKING!?"

Tsunade continued to read down the lines about what Naruto did. "The ingredients you put into the factory and the water supply…Did you sterilize all of Kumo's slaves and ninjas?"

"No," Naruto's answer making a few people raised eyebrows. "Most of the shinobi and kunoichi who have been taking those pills. I guess slightly over half of the takers were sterilized." Everyone's mouth dropped open.

Even the lazy jonin commander was awed. "Kami…You managed to destroy a generation of shinobi for Kumo, maybe even two."

"I sterilized them, especially the slaves because I don't want to see any more rape babies and more suffering. I did this to stop Kumo from plunging the world into another great war." There was steel in Naruto's tone. "You have heard that Lady Tsunade has mentioned the pills are dangerous, so I personally punished everyone involved in the pill production, the Kumo leadership and those professionals saying the drugs being harmless, but they didn't take the pills. They are hypocrites…so I personally snuck to their houses and drugged their food and drink. I've made sure I sterilized every one of them and their families. I even sterilized their children and babies by applying Harvest seals on them. It's an Uzumaki fuinjutsu which seals an organ's abilities. So in other words, I sealed their kids' reproduction abilities."

"The only necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, and too many innocent people have suffered and died while they enjoy and exploit it. So I punished the Kumo leaderships by castrating their lines. I hit where it hurts. I also mixed the female growth acceleration drugs in the Raikage's exclusive vitamin supply. That's a little payback for him treating females as baby factories…Too bad I can't see his face when he realizes he has boobies and his voice feminine…"

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Said scar-faced man in Kumo had begun to wear reserved clothes yesterday before, not showing his abs and manly chest anymore, much to the bewilderment of his war staff.

C and the rest of the staff often wondered why their leader was very quiet, until the shocking report of the Akatsuki's failure reached Kumo. The Raikage screamed in a girly voice much to the shock of everyone. He had a pretty good guess that who was responsible for this.

The gori's rage had reached sky high, and it's gonna take a while to reverse the effect.

XXXXXXXXX

Everyone was shocked at what the blond did: the Kumo leadership clans would be extinct when their last child passed on in the future. There was an awkward silence across the chamber as the males in the chamber mentally cupped their crotches at the word of castration and what Naruto did to the Kumo clans. Even Hiashi and Shibi Aburame looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Impressive, but I'm disappointed too."

"Huh?" Everyone turned around to look at the owner of that voice

"Care to explain?" Naruto narrowed his eyes looking at the mummied man, who narrowed his one eye at him in return.

"I'm very impressed at your abilities...as a fully realized jinchuuriki. I give you credit for that and I accept the fact you failed to destroy Kumo R&amp;D Centre. But why didn't you kill the Kumo jinchuurikis when you had the chance? WHY? You just sealed them temporarily instead; don't you know killing them could have crippled Kumo permanently? Won't that 'convince' Kumo to surrender much easier?"

There were murmurs among the civilian councillors, even the other two elders Koharu and Homura narrowed their eyes and gave the whiskered blond a questioning look.

"Those two jinchuurikis are my teachers and our saviours. They helped us albeit unknowingly." Naruto defended his action. "If it wasn't for them, then the Raikage might not have let me take Hinata in the first place. It was only thanks to them that we weren't forced to become parents as soon as possible. Kumo would have loved to have us producing future super soldiers that might have all abilities: Hiraishin, Byakugan, chakra chains and high chakra reserve. Thanks to them we were able to avoid that fate, so yes I did spare them. It was my way of showing gratitude for what they had done for us."

So? The reasons were utterly rubbish to the Darkness of Shinobi who had no problem ripping an eye out of a loyal Konoha ninja and nearly succeeded at another eye, not to mention the person was the family of one who had saved his life on several occasions in the past.

"So you let your personal feeling ruin the chance? There is no doubt that the Kumo jinchuurikis will be against us one day. What if Kumo refuses to surrender and holds on until they return? Are you really that optimistic and naive?" Danzo shook his head in disapproval. "You failed to look at the bigger picture and you have endangered Konoha. You truly disappoint me, son of Minato and Kushina."

All people present looked worried as the argument might escalate. Naruto's fists clenched and he was very upset, but somehow he felt Danzo was right…He had planned to use the Flying Thunder God technique to pressure Kumo to surrender, but it seemed the plan was ruined with the destruction of his parents' house.

The Hokage quickly came to his surrogate grandson's defence. "That's quite enough, Danzo. In case you forget, Minato spared the jinchuuriki to the Hachibi in the last war. So can you say your Yondaime Hokage disappointed you?"

This annoyed Danzo but it did shut him up for good. Naruto took a deep breath before he spoke. "I sealed the two Kumo jinchuurikis with my space-time technique as long as possible, but we might not have enough time due to the incoming Chunin Exam in Konoha next month. My conscience, however, wouldn't allow me to kill my teachers whom we owe a lot to. But Danzo is right in a sense: Kumo might come to Konoha with their two jinchuurikis for revenge one day. So me and my Uzumaki clanswomen will stay and help protect Konoha until this Kumo matter is dealt with. I'll discuss with my clanswomen about our future."

"Is there anything else we need to talk about?" Naruto asked wearily. "I think we can all go now. I want to deal with those Hyuuga elders and hire contractors to rebuild my parents' house with their money."

The mention about his parents' money made the rest of the civilian councillors nervous, which made Naruto raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"A large portion of the Namikaze's and the Uzumaki's fortune have been used to fund various Konoha's programs and…probably the councillors' businesses and their election campaigns. They said the sole heir of these inheritances, namely you, was gone."

Tsunade dropped the little bombshell. Oops. The Slug Sannin had to tell her cousin the fact that these greedy bastards took his inheritance for their own uses. It pleased her to see the pale faces of those civilian councillors as they were scrambling for cover, but she felt sorry for upsetting her cousin. But it's better than later and she could restrain him from killing the civilians now.

Everyone felt a wave of killing intent and bloodlust from Naruto, so strong that the Slug Sannin and the God of Shinobi were slightly affected but they didn't show it. All the civilian councillors passed out with foam in their mouths and wet spots on their pants, and ANBU stormed into the chamber.

"What the fuck." Naruto hissed in low voice and his fists were shaking, not caring about the profanity in the council. "My parents' house's gone. My inheritance was stolen. Not to mention the Uzumaki clan is long forgotten in Konoha academy history. You treat me and the Uzumaki clan like shit…"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?" Naruto pointed his finger at the accused and nearly launched a shockwave in the council chamber. He furiously put his right hand on the hilt of the Arashi ready to cut down those thieves, literally. It took all the combined efforts of his lover, auntie, surrogate brother, and future parents in law to calm him down.

The Hokage along with the rest of the shinobi councillors were saddened to see the distress and the fury of Minato and Kushina's son. That's it. Rats were infesting Konoha and those people had committed treasons and spat at Minato and Kushina's memory. The civilian council was established to support the war efforts in the last war. It was supposed to be dissolved when the war ended, but those councillors used the crisis of Minato's death to prevent the dissolution until the Sandaime put them in their place three years ago.

These shenanigans ended today. Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't imagine the ensued chain reaction, but sometimes you have to cut to heal. Beside he and his second successor would never need to worry about the civilians trying to regain power.

Seeing those passed out civilian councillors being carried away by ANBU, the Sandaime made a proposal. "Sato and Sakiri are responsible for the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident, and the possible embezzlement of the Namikaze and the Uzumaki accounts, I move a vote to have the civilian council permanently dissolved unless they are found not guilty of the embezzlement. On the other hand they will be convicted and sentenced if they are found guilty, and the money, or the businesses funded by the Namikaze's or the Uzumaki's money, will be returned or given to Naruto."

The future Godaime added her proposals after she and the others managed to calm down Naruto. "I propose a full criminal investigation on the academy system and restore the Uzumaki history to the public. Lastly, we should recognize Naruto as the clan head of the Namikaze and the Uzumaki clans and we should grant him the councillor seats as the representative of the two clans."

The shinobi councillors unanimously agreed all the proposals, including the representatives from the Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans. Naruto would have two seats in the Konoha council. The return of the Yondaime's son would be announced to the village tomorrow. It pleased everyone, especially Tsunade on the facts that everything was now back in order and the future council meetings would very much more productive. Tsunade promised that she would help her cousin as much as she could.

"Very well, then this meeting is adjourned. I'll send a messenger monkey to Jiraiya to investigate Kumo and strengthen the patrols on the northern border." The Hokage rose from his seat and everyone followed suit. "We will continue three days later to discuss the incoming Chunin Exam and how we should deal with Kumo."

XXXXXXXXX

After all of the other councillors left, Hiashi and Hitomi stayed and bowed deeply to Naruto for saving and protecting their daughter.

"Thank you for protecting our daughter." the Hyuuga couples bowed again. "There is no word that can describe our gratitude to you. We are forever in your debts."

"Nah, it's alright. I'm very happy that Hinata is finally back home and to her parents, Lord Hiashi, Lady Hitomi." Naruto rubbed the back of his head grinning like a fox. "Every sacrifice is worthy for this."

Hitomi took a deep breath breaking the atmosphere. "So my little Hinata has a boyfriend?" smiling and giggling she watched Hinata's shocked reaction. "Oh sweety you think you can hide it from me? Besides from the way Naruto is standing very protectively of you, I assume I'm right."

Hinata smiled and nodded as she held hand with her lover. Kakashi flipped a page of his precious orange book and was giggling. Perhaps Lord Jiraiya could find a very good material from his godson for Kakashi's beloved novel series. The one-eyed jonin lightly elbowed his surrogate brother. "Say, you mind telling us what base you two are up to now?"

Everyone was confused that the two lover birds blushed as red as tomato and they were stammering. A bad chill ran down Naruto's back for some reason. Everyone in the room realized something not quite right.

"Home run?" Kakashi asked, didn't realize he had created a big trouble to his surrogate brother.

Hiashi's mouth dropped and the blond was sweating bullets. They were just 12 years old for Kami's sake, but the other people forgot the environment they grew up in.

"HE TOOK MY DAUGHTER'S INNOCENCE?" Hiashi was struggling to break free of his wife's and the Slug Sannin's holding. He wanted to strangle the blond despite the Hokage's presence. Naruto took three steps back. A protective father was very scary and he wondered if he would be like this when he had a daughter.

"SIR! I REALLY LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER VERY MUCH!" Naruto immediately bowed to Hinata's parents. "I am going to ask you and Lady Hitomi for the hand of your daughter!"

This shocked everyone, including Hinata: Naruto was going to marry her. Hinata blushed and her mind was filled with images of their wedding and they both cladded in traditional wedding kimonos, exchanged vows and the honeymoon. Naruto had mentioned several times he would like to take her to Snow Country just like their parents for their honeymoon.

XXXXXXXXX

_Thirty Minutes Later_

Naruto, Hinata, her parents, Tsunade and an ANBU squad were walking to the Hyuuga compound. There were a lot of things needed to do, starting tomorrow. The most important was that he would search for the whereabouts of his parents' and his great-grandfather Tobirama's scrolls.

Hiashi agreed to let Honoka and Tayuya stay in the Hyuuga compound. Hitomi had informed Hinata had a sister and the girl was shocked and couldn't wait to see her little sister.

"Auntie, despite you being a powerful Sannin I still need to remind you. You regain your youth and you need to be careful." Naruto advised Tsunade. "You don't have Wood Release but your children might have it. Kumo or any other interested parties might come to you to gain access to Mokuton, just like Kurotsuchi's case as Kumo had hoped to gain access to Dust Release."

The jinchuuriki was glad that the Godaime understood. They had reached the clan compound gates. Naruto casted a glance at the Branch family bodyguards and gate guards and understood why they always wore forehead protectors on their foreheads: the vile seals they couldn't remove without death.

There were kanjis above the gates: Hyuuga, which meant 'towards the sun'. It was ironic to the name of the clan, which had a dark and ugly tradition. Hinata wasn't the only one the Hyuuga elders wanted to get rid of. They were more desperate to get rid of Naruto.

XXXXXXXXX

_Ten Minutes Later_

_Hyuuga Compound_

Hizashi asked his brother what was the nature of the meeting. Wondering why Hiashi was so quiet, his stern face showed something was going to happen.

"Go get everyone." Hiashi said in a cold voice. Just thinking what Naruto and Hinata reported made his blood boiled that someone from his family would do such a thing.

It took thirty minutes to get the room filled but everyone noticed a squad of ANBU. "Lord Hiashi, what is the meaning of this? Why are there ANBU here?" an elder asked.

Another elder guessed. "Perhaps Lord Hiashi decides to make Hanabi the heiress of the clan."

Hanabi smiled and frowned. She's happy being acknowledged by the elders who groomed her to be the heiress of the most powerful clan in Konoha. Hinata's younger sister didn't like the harsh ideology on the Main/Branch family in the clan either, but she chose to accept it and people's pre-destined fate.

Hiashi and Hitomi had told their younger daughter about her long lost older sister. She had seen her toddler photos with the Yondaime Hokage's son and they seemed happy together until they disappeared ten years ago, two years prior her birth. It saddened her she never saw her sister; and she often wondered where and how they were. But the elders simply told her to forget about her sister, like she didn't even exist.

Her thought was stopped when her father turned to ANBU pointed to two elders Kakuei and Noboru next to her, shocking everyone. "High treason. It seems you took your petty revenge on Minato's and Kushina's son by allying yourself with councillors Sakiri and Sato to have Hinata and Naruto kidnapped." Hiashi spoke, anger abundant in his voice.

"What!?" Everyone in the room was more shocked to hear this while ANBU restrained the two elders. "Where is the proof?"

"I'm the proof." Naruto walked into the room in his Uzumaki armour; he looked at the people responsible for this. Everyone looking at him was shocked to see him while others have their Byakugan on thinking someone had henged into the Yondaime Hokage or a genjutsu. "No jutsu, I'm real and so is someone else."

Hinata walked in with her mother and Tsunade, again shocking everyone in the room. "Based on the Raikage's memo, you requested the Raikage to seal Naruto's memories and hoped that he would've died on the battlefields and Hinata wouldn't be strong enough to survive there. ANBU, take them to Ibiki." The future Godaime ordered.

However the elders made ANBU release them by juken their arms, before they charged murderously towards Naruto and Hinata with their Byakugan active.

"This is for the good of the clan!"

Before they took another step Naruto disappeared in a yellow blur and took out his kunai. He slashed X-shape on each of the two elders' faces, careful not to damage their eyes. The elder screamed in pain as they were holding their bloodied faces while the blond used this opportunity to destroy their clothes above their waists before slapping his hands on their chests.

"SEAL!" The fuinjutsu genius shouted as he applied the seals on them and activated them. Then everyone was shocked that the elders' eye colour turned from white to brown and the veins around their eyes retreated quickly. The bloodied-faced elders tried to activate their precious bloodline limits but to no avail. They didn't have Byakugan anymore. Everyone in the room was terrified: their bloodline limit was sealed without death. How come it's possible?

"This IS the real reason you want to get rid of me: for I am an Uzumaki, a clan which is proficient in seals. You fear that I can remove those seals on the Branch members' foreheads with ease." Naruto then kneed each of the elders in the stomach and knocked them out before ANBU took them to Ibiki for good.

"The two elders will be made a good example and this's why I called for this meeting. I want this be a lesson to everyone to think twice about committing treason." The Hyuuga clan pointed at his eldest daughter. "As of right now Hinata will resume her duties as the heiress after a few complications have been taken care of. Meeting adjourned."

Just as Hiashi finished his address and people were about to leave, his younger daughter dashed towards her sister, surprising everyone. Hanabi was awed by the aura radiated by this mysterious but beautiful Hyuuga teen, it was of strength and beauty. Not to mention the teenager wore armour, a bow and a quiver on her back, and two daggers behind her waist, a beautiful and true warrior in her eyes. Hanabi was shocked to learn that this girl was her long-lost sister. The little girl couldn't suppress her joy anymore. She ran and hugged her sister never minding what the elders would think of or not caring that this could make people talk or frown.

Was this cute little girl her sister? Hinata hugged her sister in return and noted the she had a strong resemblance to their father. Their mother Hitomi and uncle Hizashi were proud and happy knowing Hanabi was the type to break from the Hyuuga emotionless facade.

People were leaving the meeting room. Naruto was greeting his lover's sister, and he sensed strong malice coming from many of the Hyuuga Main members. They were shooting virulent glares at his back for the stunt he pulled but the blond played ignorant.

The Hyuuga Branch members cast one last glance at Naruto with hope. They grew up branded for a life of servitude, and freedom was a dream to them as it was impossible to remove the seals on their foreheads unless death. His demonstration on the two elders showed that it's highly possible the young fuinjutsu master could remove the seals on their foreheads. Many of them absentmindedly touched their foreheads and believed what the blond could bring them.

Salvation.

XXXXXXXXX

All of the people except Naruto had left the meeting room, including Tsunade who had gone back to the Senju compound as Shizune and Ranmaru would arrive home this evening. Hinata and her mother and sister went back to their house. The three ladies were happily spending time talking, enjoying their reunion and making up the lost time while waiting for Honoka and Tayuya. Naruto stayed in the meeting room though as he was told to, much to his confusion.

The blond thought the patriarch wanted to lecture him about being a clan head or something else. Hinata's innocence was the last thing Naruto thought his future father in law would bring up, and he wasn't aware of the impending doom.

Naruto didn't realize that Hiashi just went to his house to don his battle attire and grab his family heirloom sword to have a very serious talk with Naruto.

XXXXXXXXX

_Thirty Minutes Later_

Natsu Hyuuga, Hanabi's caretaker, was taking Honoka and Tayuya to the Hyuuga compound at Hitomi's request. Their hair had returned to their original red colour and had attracted many males' attention and whistles while they were on their way to the compound.

They were surprised to see Naruto was jumping from roof to roof very fast. He seemed panicked.

"Come back here!" the three ladies heard a male voice and saw another man running in the same direction, with a sword in hand.

"Who is he?" Honoka asked. She and Tayuya were ready to help their fellow clansman, only to be stopped by the Hyuuga girl.

"Stop! That's Lord Hiashi. Lady Hinata's father!" The Uzumaki women were relieved it wasn't an enemy, but the girls wondered why the Hyuuga clan head was in pursuit of Naruto with a sword. What did Naruto do to incur the wrath of the Hyuuga clan head?

Naruto hand-clapped Hiashi's sword before he resumed running for his life and his 'little Naruto'. Heck this was far more terrifying than facing Kisame, Raiga and any other powerful sword fighting opponents. Kurama bent over and was laughing his ass off at his host's predicament.

The blond heard Hiashi was cursing and shouting at him to stay still.

"Give me a break!"

XXXXXXXXX

_Late Evening_

_The supposedly disbanded ROOT headquarters_

Danzo Shimura had issued orders to several agents of his to monitor the jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, to dig more information about him. It's obvious the boy didn't tell the council everything.

The ROOT leader had been furious that the councillors and the Hyuuga elders sold the _weapon_ to an enemy village, and nearly let them gain access to Konoha's most invaluable abilities: Hiraishin, Byakugan and chakra chains.

For this, they had to die.

He regretted that he disposed of his most competent spies the Yakushis as they had the best chance to locate the Konoha's jinchuuriki and then they could have reclaimed him. On the other hand…it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The war hawk smiled at the fact that Kumo just did Konoha a big favour.

It was the first time Konoha could have a fully realized jinchuuriki, and it was too good to pass up. Despite Minato's boy nearly killing the Raikage and managed driving off Itachi Uchiha and his Mist Swordsman partner, he still wondered how powerful the jinchuuriki was.

With the Nanabi and the Kyuubi at hand, Konoha would definitely dwarf Kumo, which had the Nibi and the Hachibi. Konoha would be far more powerful if the ruling clan of the unofficial sixth superpower joined Konoha. The ROOT leader was very interested in that Harvest seal technique that could seal an organ's functions. It's an assassination fuinjutsu which could also seal a heart's or a brain's functions and make the victim looked like die in a natural cause hence no trace was left behind. It would be very handy to ANBU assassination teams.

The only invaluable Uzumaki techniques the Konoha crippled elder had in his arsenal were the **Reverse Four Symbols Sealing** technique learned from Kushina's father's body and…the curse seal technique from Mito Uzumaki-Senju who introduced it at the founding of the village. Konoha would come to the top of the world if the Uzumaki clan joined Konoha with their seal techniques. Imagine how powerful Konoha would be when her ninjas were armed with the Shield seals.

But the elder could see the Uzumaki clan head's reluctance to stay in Konoha. Now, he would have to 'convince' him to stay in Konoha…permanently, and let Konoha slowly assimilate the dead Uzushio without the Uzumaki clan realizing it. Kushina's son would have to give up the prospect on reviving Uzushio and eventually embrace his jinchuuriki fate.

Shimura, which meant 'for the village', and the fanatical patriot was proud that he never shamed his surname. He would use any mean necessary to protect Konoha and ensure her supremacy, no matter the cost. The village came first, and everything else was considered secondary, and even human lives were expendable.

For the good of Konoha.

The hallway echoed the soft knocking sound Danzo's cane created on the floor as he was leaving his office for home.

'Understand what Konoha has to do to ensure her global supremacy.'


	10. Remember

Beta: Lord Farsight, AnarionRising27 and Ookami88.

Consultation: Fan1One and Solvdrage.

* * *

**First Day in Konoha Arc**

_Next Day_

_Hyuuga Clan Head's House_

December twenty seventh used to be Hitomi's and Hiashi's happiest day, but it all changed on the third anniversary… For nearly ten years the mother cried every night for her eldest daughter and surrogate son, she prayed with tears to Kami and her ancestors that they were safe, warm and well-fed. She prayed one day the children would come back to Konoha and they could enjoy having meals together and listen to Naruto's boast about his latest prank before she and Hiashi chided him while Hinata giggled at the scene.

Her prayer had finally been answered and her daughter had returned home safe and yesterday became the happiest moment in Hitomi Hyuuga's life.

All thanks to Naruto who fought tooth and nail to gain the Raikage's trust and became the greatest criminal in Kumo history: just to bring Hinata back home. Now they could all be a family, along with her future son in law and his fellow clanswomen.

This abduction reminded her of Kumo's attempted kidnapping on Naruto's mother more than twenty five years ago but it was foiled by his father and it made them become a couple in the end. Although this time Kumo was successful at kidnapping their son and her daughter, but Naruto saved Hinata from that terrible breeding program and they fell in love with each other. Kumo unintentionally created and bonded the two couples.

"Thank you very much for saving my daughter, Naruto. Thank you…"

But…there was a scream from the clan meeting room they just left when she was enjoying the reunion with her eldest daughter. Everyone rushed back into the meeting room and found there were slashes on the walls and Naruto was missing but his katana was still in the room. Hitomi and her firstborn immediately stormed out after Natsu informed them on what she saw.

It was the first time she saw her husband run at such a speed, almost fast enough to catch the son of the Yellow Flash. The reason for this antic? Their daughter's innocence.

Hinata later privately told her that they consummated their relationship out of love prior the escape and that she had no regret. She was careful not to let her 7 years old sister overhear it. Yes, Hitomi held traditional views on marriage as much as her husband did. However based on the disturbing facts in Kumo, the kind and considerate mother understood and accepted that they had such an intimate relationship.

And after what Naruto had done, the boy was worthy to have her daughter's hand. After the dinner yesterday, Naruto bowed deeply to her and her husband in front of her daughters and the Uzumaki clanswomen, formally asking for their blessing to marry their firstborn daughter, much to Hinata's and her parents' happiness.

Hitomi smiled at what Naruto said to them.

_"I ask you for your eldest daughter's hand in marriage. I promise to cherish and love her forever and I promise to protect her with my life!"_

'Minato, Kushina, you should be proud for your son, and I'll be very happy to call him my son…' She smiled again at the scene that Hinata hugged Naruto crying in joy before Naruto asked her the question.

_"Sorry I don't have a ring here, I will get one eventually…But will you marry me?"_

_"Yes!"_

Hitomi would love to give him his parents' wedding rings, so he could properly propose to her daughter, but…when Naruto was in Hiashi's custody nearly 13 years ago, his parents' belongings except baby appliances were all kept in their house.

Thirteen years ago Hitomi came to her Uzumaki friend's house to share the joyous news that she's pregnant too. She had hoped her child would become friend with Kushina's. She then saw her friend was happy and was knitting something. She looked closer and it was a scarf.

_"For Minato?" _Hitomi asked. Kushina gently patted her swollen belly.

_"No, for my child dattebane!" _But Minato and Kushina's house was destroyed several years ago…

'I think Naruto shouldn't learn of that his mother had personally knitted a scarf for him. It was kept in the house…He has been hurt a lot and I don't want to see him hurt again….'

Hitomi walked pass the family dojo and saw her younger daughter train with her tutor. Naruto and Hinata gave her a few Uzumaki training dummies as a gift. Their quality was even better than the Hyuuga ones and Hanabi liked them a lot. The blond had joked and teased his lover's sister they should get dolls for her. Hitomi giggled at Hanabi's response.

_"I'm not a little kid!"_ Hanabi pouted. Actually the 7 years old girl had an impressive collection of dolls in her room. She then lovely hugging her sister and surrogate brother.

Hinata and Naruto would marry once the Kumo matters were dealt with and they found closure, and they would begin to rebuild Uzushio. Hitomi and Hanabi were very sad that Hinata would leave them soon again despite being happy for her happiness. It would take days to travel to the Land of Whirlpool but Hinata promised she would come to visit Konoha often, and the Hyuuga family would be welcomed to come to Neo-Uzushio as honoured guests.

Hanabi insisted that the mother and daughters spend their night sleeping together yesterday: sharing their experience and tales of the past 10 years. The mother was the first one to wake up and it made her smile that her daughters cuddled together in their sleep. It's very amusing to see drool coming out of her daughters' mouths.

Now she was preparing a welcome back party for Hinata and Naruto in the evening that every clan head and their heir/heiress would attend too. The Hyuuga matriarch was confused that Naruto requested her to send an invitation to the Aburame heir's girlfriend too. Hiashi had mentioned that Shibi's son hadn't had a girlfriend yet.

'Also, how does Naruto know about the Aburame heir?'

XXXXXXXXX

_The Namikaze District_

Tayuya, Honoka and Hinata were worried when they saw the expression on Naruto. It was impassive and calm but they knew underneath it was all pain, sorrow and rage. He just hid his negative emotions very well while always kept his happy and/or goofy mask to cheer everyone up.

What was standing in front of them was a charred and ruined building that used to be Minato and Kushina's house. Kurama had told them a beautiful portrait of Naruto's parents, and all of them were eager to see it, but the house was completely destroyed and nothing was left.

XXXXXXXXX

_FLASHBACK_

Three of them were having a meeting after dinner yesterday, and Tayuya was not very happy at what Naruto promised to the council.

"WHAT THE FUCK!? I thought we were going to leave here soon after we brought Hinata back to her parents!" Tayuya banged the dining table hard and didn't give a fuck about using profanity in the Hyuuga clan head's residence. She didn't want to have anything to do with the village that failed to save her clan. This village had deliberately removed the Uzumaki history from the academy curriculum despite her ninjas wearing the Uzumaki clan crest on their uniform as some sort of remembrance.

"Look, I don't mind that we stay here for a few weeks for Hinata's sake. But we are not sure how long it will take to solve the Kumo matters. It might be YEARS!"

Naruto had been sitting with his elbows on the table his fingers knitted in front of his face and he was looking at the table.

"I'm very sorry, Tayuya, Honoka. I dragged you both into this but that mummy man is right. I feel it's my responsibility to clean up the mess. I'm very sorry." It made Naruto more uneasy when Honoka had her eyes closed and was silent. The eldest Uzumaki even crossed her arms over her chest and Naruto didn't know what she was thinking. "I wish you'd stay with me, but I won't blame you if you insist leaving…I'll give you some gold so you can support yourself."

"Those old fucks…" Tayuya balled her hands into fists. Hiashi and Hitomi had told the Uzumaki women what happened in the council meeting. She fumed at the fact that those people gave her clan head a hard time. "I have a bad feeling about that Danzo guy…"

"Naruto." Honoka finally broke the silence. The blond was slightly afraid that she might not accept his decision. "You are wrong about the mess, and what you did to the Kumo jinchuurikis is right. I'd do the same if I were you. For that I accept your decision and I'll stay here with you. Why, Tayuya? Because it might be safer for us to stay inside of Konoha's walls because Kumo is dangerously close to Uzushio. Not to mention Kiri is even closer too and she was the one that formed the Combine that destroyed Uzushio."

"We might probably be the only Uzumaki survivors, and we have to stick together. Uzushio can wait, but the Kumo matters must be dealt with before we move to rebuild Uzushio. So, I'll stay with you Naruto."

Naruto stood up and bowed to his fellow Uzumaki sister, "Thank you, Honoka." Tayuya felt a bit uncomfortable when her two fellow clansmen turned to look at her.

"Alright! Alright! I'll stay. Okay?"

"Thank you, Tayuya."

_FLASHBACK ENDS_

XXXXXXXXX

She and Honoka both wore battle kimonos and Hinata wore a ceremonial kimono for the Hokage's announcement, while Naruto was still in his black Uzumaki armour and bodysuit with the Arashi on his back. The jinchuuriki was even armed to the teeth, it was obvious that he didn't trust and didn't like Konoha very much. The boy was the one hurt most and was the most reluctant one to stay in Konoha. He was just too nice to people, but that's why she liked him and accepted him as her leader.

At first everyone thought there was a barrier that protected Minato's and Kushina's scrolls, but there was no barrier and the scrolls were nowhere to find. Naruto believed the fire was not accidental, because he set fires in the Raikage Office and the archive library to hide the fact he stole the classified files. They agreed to this suspicion. But the question was: who was responsible?

Tayuya spoke. "Let's go guys. There's nothing left here. We'll search for the other places later. Natsu, please take us to the Hokage Tower."

XXXXXXXXX

_Thirty Minutes Later_

_Hokage Tower, Council Chamber_

Except the Namikaze and Uzumaki clan liaison, all the shinobi councillors were discussing the armistice treaty with Kumo and the Lightning Country after reviewing Kumo's Ten Year Plan and her war plans Naruto brought back.

Two more years Kumo would abrogate the treaty and wage war on Konoha before Suna and Kiri. Konoha being first was not only because of its geographically convenient position, close to Suna, Kiri and Iwa, but also because it was the village with the largest ninja population and many clans with diverse bloodline limits.

There was a report about the Slave and Breeding Program Naruto personally wrote along with evidences. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki had requested the shinobi councillors to keep it classified for Hinata's well-beings. The program was disturbing, female councillors Mikoto and Tsume were the most distressed. The messy handwritings clearly showed Naruto's desperation to get Hinata and the other girls out of Kumo regardless the escape plan being perfect or not.

Hiashi's fists were shaking with fury at what Kumo attempted to do to his eldest daughter. 'I swear Kumo will pay for this!'

But the disturbing fact didn't end here. The following Cloud's plan for Konoha made everyone shocked: Kumo would send Konoha females, kunoichis and civilians, to the Breeding Program to increase their number. Inoichi Yamanaka and Unkai Kurama were more horrified that Kumo had particularly targeted Ino and Yakumo respectively for the breeding purpose, despite the rarity of the Kurama clan bloodline limit. Shikamaru and Choji however wouldn't fare any better as Kumo had plan for them: Konoha male ninjas would be used as grunts to fight against the other villages. The Raikage expected high casualty on the war on Iwa.

But Kumo had underestimated Konoha. While Kumo began her Ten Year Plan when the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident occurred, the Hokage had activated **Crimson Contingency** in the midst of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki crisis. The Leaf village not only mobilized reserve forces including Mikoto Uchiha, Hitomi Hyuuga and Yoshino Nara, but also expanded Jiraiya's intelligence network which performed intelligence gathering and counterintelligence.

When the tensions with Iwa and Kumo were rising, more measures were taken. First the expansion of the Konoha Cryptanalysis Team which was responsible for decrypting foreign village's messages. The hidden Leaf village was home to 25000 ninjas, it preferred to use intelligence and tactics to counter the brute forces of Iwa and Kumo in order to minimize casualty, in case of multiple frontlines as the Leaf had fought Rock, Cloud and Mist simultaneously in the last war.

But the Leaf intelligence services were still insufficient to face the threats nonetheless; hence two Konoha garrisons had been established in the Fire Country: one in the northern border and the other one in the western border. The northern garrison was stationed by 1500 strong Leaf ninjas and was led by Hayama Shirakumo to defend against the Cloud village.

The western garrison was stationed by 3500 Konoha ninjas and was led by Kosuke Maruboshi, the former Konoha Eternal Genin. The old veteran reluctantly accepted the promotion to jonin in the wake of the Namikaze-Hyuuga crisis. His abilities spoke volume that he handled the border clashes very well. The old man finally found peace at his past mistake that killed his teammates.

Fresh genin wouldn't need to be stationed in either garrison until he or she had more than six months experience. Troops in the Konoha garrisons stayed there for three months and each of them would have to take shifts twice a year. In the event of an invasion either by Iwa or Kumo, Konoha would be able to immediately send a reinforcement of 4000 troops to help either garrison.

Iwa had learned the culprits of the abductions in Earth Country and had ceased to look for troubles in the western border. Thanks to the information brought by the rogue Kumo ANBU operative, Konoha was now on alert and wary of Kumo.

Due to the shinobi world's foremast event - Chunin Exam was going to be hosted in Konoha this time; the Leaf village didn't have plan or resource to take action against Kumo except reinforcing the northern garrison. The Hokage and the shinobi council agreed that Kosuke's garrison could divert 2000 soldiers to Hayama's garrison once they confirmed Iwa ceased hostility.

The Hokage was now reading the Kumo R&amp;D project documents Naruto brought back, but they were practically useless: no detail or blueprints, only coded names and the funds involved. One project attracted the Professor's interest because it cost astronomically, and only the Cloud village which had the best economic power could afford this project.

**Hell Storm**.

What was it? Even the ex-Kumo ANBU claimed he had no knowledge of them. The R&amp;D Centre was full of mysteries, and it was very well guarded. The facility was in complete lockdown when the explosions went off. Naruto told them that his shadow clone encountered heavy resistance, twenty ANBU at least; even the Raikage Tower didn't have so many ANBU guards.

So many questions but little answers, Sarutobi doubted the Konoha spymaster would be able to find out, but he would task Jiraiya to dig information about them nevertheless.

XXXXXXXXX

_Training Ground Three_

Taking the opportunity that her two teammates were now sparring, Sakura mustered the courage and walked towards her sensei who was reading his little orange book sitting next to a tree.

"Sensei, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Spill it."

It annoyed her more when she heard a perverted giggling coming from the jonin, but Inner Sakura had suggested that she should get a copy of that book. The pinkette ignored both of them. "You told us you'll let us know about that blond when we came back. You seem very close to him. Can you tell us about him now? PLEASE?"

"You want to know him? You give up on Sasuke and have the hots for him? I'm SURPRISED." the Team 7 jonin leader chuckled. "Sorry to inform you, but he's taken."

Sakura gaped and she immediately responded while waving her hands frantically. "N-No! It's not what I want to ask him about, sensei! A-And of course I know he's taken!"

"Then, tell me, why else do you want to know about him?" Kakashi lifted his eye from his book and was now carefully looking at her.

"Well, Sasuke has been searching for that guy…"

It wasn't too hard for the Hatake genius to figure out: Sakura wanted to help her love interest. Sasuke was impressed by Naruto's brutal action towards Gato's army albeit sickened too. Then he was far more impressed by Naruto's fight against his brother. The avenger had been searching for that blond and had been asking him the same question.

Kakashi closed his book and looked at Sakura directly. "You want to find the blond so you can impress your Sasuke, right?"

The pinkette was speechless but it was obviously a yes. The scarecrow sighed, at first he didn't care about this but it was very likely Kumo would come to Konoha's doorsteps for revenge or continue her conquest plan when the two jinchuurikis returned. His student needed a reminder of that wake-up call.

"Sakura, I'll tell you about that blond." The cyclops sighed again when he saw stars in Sakura's eye. "But I have a far more important matter to bring up to you: frankly your infatuation to Sasuke worries me. I saw your actions on the bridge and they were unacceptable. If you keep going like this, especially in a war, the whole Team 7 might have their names craved on the Memorial Stone. Don't tell me you have forgotten that lecture two months ago."

Sakura was stunned and started to shiver. How could she not forget that lesson?

Based on the last war experience, especially the case that the severely outclassed and outnumbered Maito Gai, Genma Shiranui and Ebisu's encounter with the whole Seven Mist Swordsmen, the Konoha leadership believed a new battle formation for genin teams was needed in order to let their genin soldiers survive against stronger foes.

This gave birth to the **Battle Platoon** concept. Credit to Shikaku Nara, Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya.

77 out of the 202 academy graduates this year passed the actual genin exams. Two months ago these newly minted genins gathered for the introduction of the battle platoon formation. They would form a platoon after each of them completed a C-rank mission.

All of the fangirls clustered around Sasuke and were immaturely competing about their love for him, until the arrival of their jonin senseis in shunshin. Needless to say the jonins were very, very displeased to see this, especially the female ninjas who harshly remarked that fangirls were disgraces to kunoichis.

All of the female genins except Fu were punished to run fifty laps of the training ground and most of them were exhausted before they finished their twentieth lap due to the diet they took. The jonins quickly found out and they were all horrified and furious.

The girls were all scolded and lectured: kunoichis must eat as much as they could and be strong enough otherwise they could face a fate that's worse than death. The high number of rapes committed in the last war and the brutal **Jungle Country War** seven years ago were testimonies. Wars with Iwa and Kumo were very likely. This kind of girls would be begging for death when captured.

But nearly all of them whined and complained and didn't take the advice seriously. A harsher punishment was swiftly carried out while the males were all asked to leave.

What was the punishment they received? Thirty more laps, and they were all made to finish the laps in…underwear only, despite the rain and cold. It was to give them a slight feel of being violated and a mock war experience.

Sakura remembered that the jonin kunoichis coldly ignored their protests and ruthlessly pressed it forwards with snakes Anko provided to "motivate" them. The kunoichi senseis even had the consent of the Hokage and the Slug Sannin.

The cold rain continued relentlessly.

The punishment was harsh but it was necessary. The jonin kunoichis considered it a sweet mercy compared to what enemy would do to these girls. The running kept the fangirls warm, but they were crying while running. In the end none of the girls finished the laps, but they were all dismissed and sent home because it was late night already.

By the next day, all of the fangirls except Sakura and Ino had quit the program. There was uproar from the civilian councillors especially Sakura's aunt but they were silenced and put down by the glares sent by the Slug Sannin and the kunoichi senseis. Several academy staff including Suzume were immediately sacked or suspended and brought to the Torture and Interrogation Department.

A battle platoon must be comprised at least 5 teams of different roles. But most of the fangirls took the washout lane and it was insufficient to form five platoons. In the end the jonins decided that this year genins would form platoons with the last year batch.

Teams 7, 8 and 10 officially would form a platoon with Teams Gai and Shizune/Anko. Later this platoon would be christened **K-15**: Fifteenth Platoon of Battalion K.

Sakura shuddered and her eyes watered at that painful and humiliating memory and she remembered what Anko and the other kunoichis had told them, even the kinder Kurenai and Shizune were sending them harsh looks.

_"Keep your fangirl attitude in check! Otherwise I won't be easy on you next time! Got it?"_

The wakeup call did the work: the two remaining rabid fangirls started to change for the better. They trained hard with the helps from Ino's father and cut their hair short for close quarter combat. They had also quitted diet and even gained extra muscle in such a short amount of time even the kunoichi senseis were impressed. But she couldn't help it when her Sasuke was in danger, like what happened in Wave Country when he was nearly killed by his brother.

"Is it wrong to love someone?" Sakura whispered sadly and she was looking down. Tears began flowing down her cheeks after sending a glance at Sasuke's way. "Can't I love him?"

"I didn't say you can't love Sasuke," the jonin clarified in a softer tone. "As long as your feeling doesn't endanger the team and the mission." Sensei was well aware of Rin's affection towards him and Obito's affection towards her but sensei never said anything as long as the team performed expectantly fine. Team Minato was even entrusted with the critical mission of destroying Kannabi Bridge in the last war.

The last Yondaime's student noted Team 7 was similar to his old team except Kiba wasn't smitten with Sakura, and Rin wasn't a fangirl even back in the academy days. Even nowadays what happened to his teammates grieved the jonin and he had to make sure nothing bad happened to this Team 7. Kiba and Akamaru were rarely an issue. Sasuke? As long as no one mentioned Itachi he'd be fine.

The problem was Sakura and he wanted to make Sakura change for the best, but how? Minato had used both carrot and stick to bring out the team's potential. Stick wasn't effective as it seemed, probably he should try to use carrot to motivate his female student.

The jonin continued. "I have no issue with your abilities but when it comes to Sasuke your performance starts to have problems. Don't you ever wonder that your method always backfires? I wonder why you don't impress Sasuke with your medic skill again?"

"Again?" a surprised Sakura raised her head. "Did I? But when was it?"

"You never noticed you actually did it? It's when everyone have learned that you are the one in the platoon closest to reach medic level 2, even Ino and Neji couldn't compete against you. Sasuke was impressed you even beat the last Rookie of the Year and the Hyuuga prodigy in that technical area."

Her Sasuke was impressed at her not-so-important medic skills? "Really? But I didn't see it."

"It must be Lee." Kakashi groaned. "He was shouting something about your 'Flames of Youth' that got you sacred away and distracted. Not to mention him and Gai hugging afterwards. Anyway I also saw Sasuke's expression when you healed him in a training exercise. So you can impress Sasuke if you prove yourself as a capable kunoichi."

Sakura shuddered at her first encounter with the self-proclaimed Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast with a terrible haircut who swore to protect her with his life. She shuddered more at what Lee proclaimed and his ridiculous self-imposed rule.

_"I'LL RUN 300 LAPS AROUND KONOHA BACKWARDS ON MY HANDS ONLY IF I CAN'T BEAT NEJI THIS TIME!"_

The sight of see two men hugging and crying each other's name and the illogical appearance of that sunset and crashing waves were worse! Hell, even the waves raised by Itachi's partner weren't even that terrifying!

The jonin stood up. "Think about what I just said: take your kunoichi career seriously and everyone even Sasuke will be impressed. It's for your good. Anyway regarding the blond you want to ask about, the Hokage's announcement today is about him. Then I'll tell you more about him if you want to."

If Sakura kept going like this, then Kakashi would have no choice but to kick her out of Team 7 for Sasuke's, Kiba's and Akamaru's sake. Sakura could be reassigned to the Cryptanalysis Team or a hospital. He went to call for his males students before they went to attend the Sandaime's announcement.

On the way to the Hokage Tower, Kiba was frustrated that the Uchiha kicked his ass again. Sasuke noted that tear stains on his female teammate's face but she didn't come to bother him this time. What did she and sensei talk about?

Sakura's inner self was excitedly shouting that she should use this approach. 'How come I didn't notice my medical skills could impress Sasuke?' Sakura was inwardly banging her head against a wall and she now remembered Sasuke was impressed when the blond's girlfriend injured Itachi. 'Then I will try to focus on my medic skills. It's a many-win situation, and everyone can respect me after all!'

'Wait…The announcement is about him. Is that blond really a big shot?'

XXXXXXXXX

_At the same time_

_Hokage Tower, Council Chamber_

Accepting the decision to stay in Konoha didn't mean Honoka was happy about it, especially for an undetermined length of time. Unlike Tayuya, the 15 years old Uzumaki girl was raised by her Uzushio survivor parents. They had taught her everything they knew including combat arts and survival skills. They believed she could survive in this harsh and corrupted world alone but the incident on the Summoning Island proved otherwise. Were it not for Naruto stubborn enough to follow her to the island, Honoka would have met her parents in the afterlife. That incident was a great lesson that it's best to have someone watch your back and she firmly believed the three Uzumakis needed to stick together even she hated staying in Konoha.

"Remember Uzushio." Kaasan's tearful last words on her death bed. Honoka promised her she would never forget it.

_Remember the day the Combine with over 30000 soldiers and three jinchuurikis attacked the peaceful village without provocation…_

_Remember all of the valiant 2000 Uzushio ninjas that fought to their last breath in this losing war to buy time for the evacuation of non-combatants…_

_Remember the Combine wiped Uzushio off the map and committed the genocide of the ancient clan...And…_

_REMEMBER KONOHA'S FAILURE TO RESCUE UZUSHIO…_

'So they are the elders who gave Naruto a hard time yesterday…' Honoka was looking at Danzo, Koharu and Homura with wariness and disdain. The profanity user was right: the one-eyed mummied man was also giving her a bad feeling. There was something strange about him but it frustrated her that she couldn't figure out what it was.

The three Uzumakis were now standing in front of the Konoha council with Hinata. They greatly distrusted the Sandaime Hokage and the three esteemed elders because they were involved in the decision making during Uzushio's Last Stand. Lady Kushina had kneeled and begged the Konoha leadership to send helps to Uzushio. Kurama didn't know whether they kept their promise, but he feared he didn't want to know. What the fox did know that Kushina was totally devastated when the news of the **Fall of Uzushio** reached Konoha. She didn't eat or sleep for the entire week and nearly rendered mute.

The rest of the shinobi councillors were Kushina's generation, but it didn't mean she could trust them all, even Hiashi. Just like Naruto did when they went to the Summoning Island: they all had to earn her trust.

Naruto had been given temporary special jonin rank while the three girls were given genin rank. Lady Tsunade was a fellow Uzumaki, but she was fair and didn't play favouritism and nepotism. Using Tayuya's words, she didn't give a fuck about the rank because she used to be freelance kunoichi after all. The redhead then looked at the bright side; perhaps they could use Konoha as a base. The incoming Chunin Exam could broadcast to their fellow survivors scattered around the world to come to Konoha before they moved to the Land of Whirlpool and declared the country's independence with international supports.

'Uzushio will rise again…'

Patience was the key to success; they had to endure for Neo-Uzushiogakure. The Whirlpool nationalist reluctantly put a Leaf hitai-ate on her forehead after she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Naruto and Tayuya put theirs on their foreheads too, and Hinata put hers around her neck.

The Uzumakis made a deal with the two Hokages: they could resign from Konoha ninja forces after Kumo was dealt with. Their fellow Uzumaki Hokage had honoured their request to have their forehead protectors in crimson colour. The Uzumakis greatly appreciated Naruto's fiancée following suit despite not an Uzumaki yet. Four of them all had worn crimson armbands with the Uzumaki crest on their left arms, with the crimson hitai-ate it contained a significant meaning.

**Remember Uzushio**.

Later, Honoka crossed her arms observing the people of Konoha who were waiting for the Fifth's announcement, obviously an opportunity to solidify her position. People cheered thunderously when an ass-kisser shouted "The son of the Yellow Flash is back!" when they saw said person.

She overhead many parents telling their children to try to get close to the jinchuuriki. There were fangirls too, blowing kisses, squealing or shouting at her clan head with "Marry me, Lord Namikaze!" or "I love you! Son of the Yellow Flash!" She and Tayuya chuckled seeing the girls' faces when Naruto showed to the villagers his fiancée. It seemed the announcement boosted the morale in Konoha when all of the Leaf ninjas rejoiced seeing the son of the beloved Yondaime Hokage.

Honoka scowled. 'No one ever mentioned Naruto being the son of the Red Death who had an impressive kill count in the last war for Kami's sake! What was Lady Kushina to them?'

She saw Tayuya's expression and knew she was pissed too. That's it. She didn't want to see this anymore, she and her fellow redhead asked Hizashi to take them to Lady Kushina's old home, the **Uzumaki Manor**, the house she used to live in before she married to the Yondaime.

They appreciated the fact Hinata's parents were making their stay as comfortable as possible, but they didn't like to stay under someone's roofs. Once the manor was cleaned, they would move in.

Naruto's rank was temporary and he might be given jonin rank when Jiraiya dug up information about Naruto Arashi. Speaking about his godfather, the blond had mentioned his adult literatures and the godson was not happy about this. The Sannin still had time to write smuts while searching for him and Hinata? Her brother would demand a good explanation when they met.

She wanted to demand an answer too but everyone was happy for the return of the son of their beloved Yondaime Hokage and she didn't want be an asshole to rain on their parade. The question she wanted to ask was: did Konoha really ever send aids to Uzushio?

Kurama had mentioned that Kushina used her status as the Fourth Hokage's wife to secretly search for the classified documents regarding Konoha's involvement in the Fall of Uzushio yet in the end she couldn't find any of them.

The fox speculated that no such file ever existed, and he told them, for their sake, this secret should remain untouched…

XXXXXXXXX

_20 Minutes Later_

_Hokage Tower_

"I thought there wouldn't be many people to come here."

"I thought you would wear something nice, kid."

The Sandaime smiled as he listened at the conversation between his second successor and her cousin after the announcement on Naruto's and Hinata's return to the village. They were now walking downstairs and the Hokage being at the front. The village population's reaction to the announcement was similar to when Minato was inaugurated Hokage nearly fifteen years ago on the very same roof with his wife Kushina. Hiruzen noted that despite the appearance Naruto shared similar traits with his mother, while Hinata was like his father: quiet and meek. It seemed history liked to repeat itself, their son and future daughter in law were met with thunderous applause. There was no doubt the young couple would one day become as great as Minato and Kushina.

Yesterday was a happy day for him as well, for the past ten years he was living with regret and sorrow and blamed himself for failing Kushina's last wish. But now it was over and he could step down from the Hokage position without leaving too much trouble to the Slug Sannin.

Early this morning his three friends came to his house for breakfast so the Senju princess wouldn't know it. They strongly advised him to do everything necessary to entice the three Uzumakis to stay permanently. It made sense that they wanted Kushina's son to stay, jinchuuriki after all. But why the Uzumaki girls too? They didn't explicitly state the reason, but the God of Shinobi looked underneath the underneath and knew what they thought of the two Uzumaki girls.

Backup containers, Hiruzen sighed at their zealous militant ideology. Yes, Konoha was a ninja village after all, but it didn't mean it should be fully militaristic and ruled with an iron fist like Kumo or Kiri, and looked at what happened to them! Even if Naruto didn't rebel; it was a matter of time before someone else started it. This was not what Hashirama envisioned when he created this village, why couldn't they understand his predecessors and the Will of Fire?

Fortunately Tsunade wasn't there when Koharu offered this idea on the Uzumakis. Things would turn out very messy if Tsunade heard what the elders planned for her family. She was always at odd with them, no wonder she demanded their retirement as a condition for her to become his successor, non-negotiable.

He would make sure his three old friends retired the advisor post and let the next generation handle matters, then he could spend more time with his family and start to enjoy his student's great literature, those books were still wrapped up. Now he couldn't wait to read them!

'Playing shogi with Asuma and taking Konohamaru to trips, life will be good. Better if Biwako is still here…'

But Homura's reasons did have logics, Konoha really needed to enlist the Uzumakis to strengthen Konoha's defence, especially **Project Firewall**, which reinforced Konoha walls with seals. It was that Jiraiya and other Konoha seal masters carried out the tasks.

But…the seal techniques involved in the defence originated from Uzushio and even Jiraiya couldn't perfectly replicate the Uzumaki advanced seal techniques.

He was sure the Uzumakis would not be happy when they learnt this, but it was necessary and critically important to have the Uzumakis to reinforce Konoha defence before the Kumo jinchuurikis returned. Uzushio's barriers withstood several Tailed Beast Balls in Uzushio's Last Stand, and only Uzumakis were able to set it up without too much hassle.

Thankfully his second successor was an Uzumaki, Hiruzen would leave this to her to sort this out.

XXXXXXXXX

_30 Minutes Later_

_Moritake Cafe_

Hinata was wolfing down her favourite cinnamon buns; she hadn't had one since their escape from the Cloud village. She would later join her mother in preparing for the evening party. Her fiancé was staying with the Hokage and the Slug Sannin. The blond not only requested for his parents' and great grandfather's scrolls, but also a certain scroll authored by Shodaime and/or Nidaime, namely the tomb location of a certain someone.

'If Naruto's parents' killer is indeed that man and he is still alive, then Naruto will inform the Hokages and the council of his existence and prepare for his return. I'll be at his side when he faces that man….'

The news of their victory over Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki spread like a wild fire over the village. Naruto and Hinata quickly became some sort of celebrities and many people wanted to ask them questions. It became worse when Lady Tsunade announced her as the future daughter in law of the Fourth Hokage. Thanks to her Branch bodyguards and guides she could enjoy her food of gods without being disturbed by anyone.

One of the bodyguards had told her that the Uzumaki girls had left earlier for Kushina's old residence with Uncle Hizashi and they would meet up at the Uchiha compound and they would join the evening party. Then the same Branch member mustered up all his courage to ask her a question: "Can Lord Namikaze remove the Caged Bird Seals?" The reinstated heiress smiled and replied with a subtle hint that "nothing is impossible" to her Naruto, she then asked them to drop the honorific to him since he didn't like to be called that way. The two Branch members understood and smiled.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the cafe and she turned around to see it. Someone was demanding her Hyuuga clansmen to let him through and it was Sasuke Uchiha. She remembered Sasuke's eyes when they encountered Itachi in Wave. That pair of eyes bore the same burning hatred in them that Kurotsuchi's and Sayuri's had held when they realized the true identity of their master…

"What can I do for you, Uchiha?" Hinata politely asked after she told her bodyguards to let him through and offered him a seat. She set up a privacy seal around their area to prevent someone trying to hear their conversation or reading lips.

So the blond was the son of the Yellow Flash, no wonder he could defeat that man! Now that was wonderful, but killing Itachi was his job, no one else's, not even the son of the Yellow Flash could take away this purpose from him! It made him jealous when he saw the Hyuuga and the Yellow Flash's son drew blood from that man.

Sasuke had secretly copied the hand seals of that blond's assassination technique that nearly pierced that man's heart. He had tried to activate that jutsu in Tazuna's backyard at night while everyone was asleep but he couldn't activate it. Then sensei arrived stopping him and warned him never to try using this technique. The jonin told him that he was lucky that he didn't have wind affinity or his arm would be shredded to pieces without an insulation seal.

If he couldn't use Wind Strike, fine. There were other ways to kill Itachi, like that strange chakra cloak and chakra balls that destroyed Itachi's Susanoo. He didn't have time to beat around the bush, mum was waiting for him at home and he had training to do, so he went straight forward.

''I'll cut to the chase: I want to 'borrow' your scrolls and armour and I'll return them to you after I finish my business with a certain person." Sasuke said bluntly. "And I want to ask your boyfriend to teach me including how to have that chakra cloak and chakra balls-" His talk stopped when he saw the Hyuuga activated her bloodline and was glaring at him. Not even Neji or other Hyuuga he met had ever showed this kind of look and Sasuke could swear she had looked into his soul.

"Sasuke Uchiha, please take the seat. We should talk."

"What? I don't have the time."

"Please take the seat. We need to talk."

"Listen Hyuuga, there is no need-"

A kunai suddenly flashed into Hinata's right hand. She used it to violently tap a wooden table leg several times.

"I DON'T HAVE THE TIME EITHER!" Hinata pointed her kunai to a chair opposite to her, "I SAID TAKE THE SEAT NOW BEFORE I WHIP YOUR BUTT WITH THIS KUNAI!"

She released her killing intents in H's unique dominatrix style. The former sex slave hated to use H's way and gestures but she had now lost her patience. She reluctantly agreed that H's methods always got the job done. Thank Kami that she had set up privacy seals around their area otherwise she would get more unwanted attention.

To say that Sasuke was shocked was an understatement; he knew the Hyuuga was strong as she injured Itachi but she seemed the friendliest in the blond's group. She could be "convinced" easily to do what he asked. His mother did chastise him but never in the way that this Hyuuga had just done. Needless to say his clanswomen and fangirls never yelled at him once. Somehow he had a vision that he now lying on the table and being spanked. He now became fearful and did what the Hyuuga said like a good boy.

Hinata continued in a kinder voice. "Now I believe that will be impossible to do since they are clan techniques and you, A CLAN HEIR, should know better than anyone that you should respect clan secrets! And you are about to cross the line by demanding to have the Uzumaki clan secrets!"

The Uchiha blinked his eyes, confused. "Uzumaki clan?"

Hinata buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated sigh, how could she forget that the younger generation of Konoha didn't know about the Uzumaki clan, which was from a foreign village. "Fine, then I'll tell you about the Uzumaki clan."

"The Uzumaki clan is the cousin clan to the Senju clan, and also the ruling clan of the destroyed hidden Whirlpool village. They are feared and respected worldwide because of their prodigious skill in fuinjutsu. Seal art is the best counter against ninjutsu and genjutsu because they can render most of ninjutsu and genjutsu useless and our victory over Itachi is a testament to that. The chakra chains materialized from Honoka is a bloodline limit of the Uzumaki clan, but they are like the sharingan, not everyone in the clan manifests them. You have seen the effect of the chakra chains used against Itachi's avatar. The First Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki and so is the Fifth although her surname is Senju. I think you can ask your mother more about the Uzumaki clan, because one of her genin teammates was an Uzumaki."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows; he had seen his mother's genin team photos. One of her teammates was a Hyuuga, obviously Hinata's mother, and the other one…Sasuke could admit that the redhead was more beautiful than their Slug Sannin sensei, but he didn't want to admit that she was even more beautiful than his mother.

"Now you want to ask for the armour, right? The armour is covered with seals that nullify most ninjutsu and genjutsu. But even if you have Naruto's permission I'm afraid it won't work next time because Itachi won't fall for the same trick again. I'm sure he must have a way to counter the Shield seals, like using taijutsu or kenjutsu."

Hinata repeated what Naruto taught her: "Ninja combat arts are divided into four main categories: ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu and bukijutsu. Fuinjutsu isn't a main category because it isn't a very common combat art and it is extremely difficult to learn, Jiraiya the Toad Sannin is the world renowned seal master but even he cannot fully utilize fuinjutsu and he can't create the Uzumaki advanced seals like Shield or Hellfire, so you can now understand why most of the ninjas don't learn it."

"These categories are paper-scissor-stone like elemental chakra, each of them has advantages and disadvantages over another. Ninjutsu and genjutsu are strong against taijutsu and bukijutsu but weak to fuinjutsu. Seal art, however, is vulnerable to taijutsu and bukijutsu and that's why the Uzumaki clan compensates with kenjutsu. The Uchiha clan is a very strong ninja clan with powerful ninjutsu and genjutsu, but the Uzumaki clan is her natural enemy with fuinjutsu."

Sasuke didn't know whatever to feel complimented or insulted; the Hyuuga admitted the Uchiha clan elite but the Uzumaki clan was more powerful. 'Well, the Uzumaki clan is a cousin clan to the Senju after all, just another natural enemy to the Uchiha. Madara is the strongest Uchiha the clan ever has, but he still lost to Hashirama Senju…'

"You might think we are stronger than Itachi because we won, but NO, you are wrong. You have to know that capture is much harder than kill. If they came with intents to kill then the outcome of the battle would be very different."

She recalled that her fiancé mentioned that Itachi didn't go full out; he didn't sense his malice while his partner's was enormous especially when the blond taunted and riled him up. Something was not right about the Uchiha Butcher.

Sasuke raised another question. "But what about Itachi's shark-faced partner? I've checked the Bingo Book and he is Zabuza's fellow swordsman in the Mist, S-rank, mind you. Even Kakashi was hard pressed against Zabuza, an A-rank, but Naruto made them look like pushovers."

"That's because Kisame and Naruto are the same combat specialist type: swordsmen with monstrous chakra reserve. Kisame has stronger brute strength and is a kenjutsu master with a powerful sword, but Naruto is faster and he has a good sword too. Most importantly, Naruto has far more chakra than that swordsman and he outmanoeuvred him in the end by manipulating water with his wind techniques."

"Also, what do you mean capture? Now I think of it, Itachi was there to arrest you. Why?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata's face darkened. "I'll tell you why Itachi was there in Wave Country…He and his partner were after Naruto and me. Naruto became a criminal in the Cloud village after setting me free because I was a sex slave to breed Byakugan! And those one hundred girls you saw on the ship were also sex slaves!"

Sex slaves? Breeders? Sasuke was shocked at Hinata's revelation. "You gotta be joking right?"

"No I am not, why else do you think Itachi and Kisame came to Wave Country? Your team and Zabuza's team were just in the crossfire. I'll tell you what had been happening in Kumo in the past few years, because soon the world will know what Kumo has been up to too."

Hinata started to tell Sasuke about her and Naruto's story in Kumo, beginning on the reasons why they were kidnapped: Hinata for Byakugan, Naruto for Hiraishin and Uzumaki's high chakra reserve and potential chakra chains but she skipped the part about Kurama. Then she told Sasuke her experience at the Slave and Breeding facility before being saved by Naruto.

Sasuke was very disturbed when Hinata told him what happened to the girls who were not that lucky enough. Then he became horrified when Hinata revealed that Kumo had plans for the Uchiha clan, particularly the females including his mother, to breed sharingan once Kumo conquered Konoha.

"You are making this up, aren't you?" A very sick Sasuke asked. His body was shaking and he dearly wished that she was bullshiting him.

"No, I am not making this up. I have told you that the world will know this soon because we'll release Kumo's crimes to the media in the Fire Capital. Naruto had no choice but prematurely launch our escape when he discovered Kumo's plan on Konoha and was told to have a baby with me. The Cloud village even has plans on other clans and their women too, but your mother is on the top of the list due to her crippled state."

Sasuke paled and was horrified beyond words when he realized that he would have siblings but their father wouldn't be Fugaku…He became very distressed and disgusted, sicker than when he saw what Naruto did to Gato's army. He couldn't help but put his left hand on his mouth before he dashed to the bathroom.

Hinata looked at him with sympathy. She had the same experience when she learned that Kumo had even targeted the Hyuuga clan, including her mother. Many of her slave-friends were still in Kumo and they had become mothers…The world was so cruel and corrupted. But she and Naruto were not strong enough to change the world for the better now.

The Hyuuga princess banged her right fist on the table before turning off the privacy seal.

XXXXXXXXX

_20 Minutes Later_

Sasuke was heading home after buying his favourite tomatoes in the market district. He was in deep thought about his talk with the Hyuuga. The conversation resumed after he came back from the bathroom, he then asked about the chakra cloak and the chakra balls, but she simply told him only Naruto could tell him about them. The talk lasted for a few more minutes, because Naruto and his Uzumaki women would come to the Uchiha compound with a gift in an hour.

'What kind of gift is it?' Sasuke wondered. Well the gift wasn't important. He was much more concerned about what the Hyuuga said about Kumo. He still had a hard time believing what the Hyuuga said about Kumo.

"NO MY SON! NOOOO!"

A hysterical cry in the market district derailed his train of thought. The curious boy joined the crowd watching a civilian woman kneeling and crying uncontrollably and there was a chunin kunoichi doing her best to comfort her. The old lady was a few years older than his mother, and she was tearfully holding a black scroll.

A body scroll. Another casualty from the western garrison; it wasn't uncommon that a body scroll or a maimed soldier returned to the village from the western garrison every few days. His started to resume walking for home but he overheard the whisperings from several bystanders.

"…poor lad got wasted in the northern garrison…"

"Impossible! Isn't there always peaceful? What the hell happened?"

"Don't ya know, hundreds of Kumo ninjas lurking there a couple of days ago? Thanks to Lord Jiraiya, they retreated…"

'Northern garrison? Kumo?' Sasuke thought. 'So she is right…'

"Poor Mrs. Yamada…Lost her husband in the Kyuubi's attack. She raised her two sons herself, but the eldest was killed in the western garrison three years ago, now her younger son…"

The crying mother kept screaming hysterically wanting her son back. "ICHIZO WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME TOO? NOW I'M ALL ALONE!"

The grief stricken mother let out one more scream at her son's name, before she passed out.

XXXXXXXXX

_10 Minutes Later_

'Why can't I get that Yamada woman out of my head?' Sasuke thought as he entered the Uchiha compound.

"Brother Sasuke!" Someone shouted and jumped at him when he just passed through the gates. It was Daisuke, Yashiro's youngest son. "Welcome back! Can you play ninja with us? We wanna beat the Hokage's bratty grandson!"

"Yeah!" Inabi's daughter, Miki, agreed. More Uchiha children started to congregate around him, asking him to play with them. "We wanna show him that the Uchiha Corps is the best!"

Sasuke chuckled. The Uchiha Corps was of course even better than the Hokage grandson's corps, and he would help them to keep it that way. "OK! Just give me a minute so I can drop my bags in my home." The children cheered. Unlike that man whom he used to call a brother he would spend some time with them.

All of the children survived that night, as Itachi…that monster…coldly claimed they were worthless piece of shit and he didn't bother to kill them. Yet these children lost their parents and older siblings on that terrible night. This left to his mother and the other adult Uchiha survivors to raise the children and he partook some of the responsibilities.

After leaving his grocery bags, Sasuke went to the altar and offered a quick prayer to his ancestors and father in heaven before joining the children. It had been five years and the painful reminders of that night had all been cleaned of course, but he could still remember that night: bodies lying on the streets, and smokes almost everywhere in the compound.

As he was playing with the children he was struck by a sudden vision, a vision more horrifying than Itachi's Tsukuyomi he suffered here five years ago. All of the compound buildings were burning like the rest of the village. Then he saw a squad of Kumo ninjas chaining and herding his clansmen, including his weeping mother and the crying children, to an unknown place. It horrified him to see the Kumo ninjas treating the Uchihas like some war spoils, and these bastards were smiling lecherously at his mother and the Uchiha girls.

He was about to scream…

"You okay, Brother Sasuke?" A concerned Daisuke asked. All children present were worried.

"I'm OK. Just spaced out…" Sasuke placated the children and they were relieved. He looked at the children's eyes and they were so innocent and vulnerable, and looking at them made him want to protect them, even at the cost of his life. Realization hit him and he finally understood why he couldn't get that weeping mother out of his head; she reminded him of his mother.

'The seniors are too old to fight and mum is crippled. She can't fight…I am the only battle-abled Uchiha who stands between Kumo and my clan…'

He shivered at the thought that Kumo enslaved his clan. He realized that his mother needed him. His clan people all needed him, just as he needed them and he'd die protecting them.

Now he decided that the Cloud village was a more dangerous threat than Itachi as Kumo was a threat that would guarantee them a fate worse than death. He would still seek the son of the Yellow Flash, but for a different reason.

Itachi would have to wait.

XXXXXXXXX

Mikoto, the granddaughter of Izuna Uchiha, looked happily at her son playing with the other Uchiha children. It made her smile to see her son and the other Uchiha children playing and laughing.

Her younger son was a good boy. When the house needed cleaning, he did it. When the house was short on supply, he immediately went out to the market district. He wouldn't let her do most of the chores as long as he's at home. Her younger son always listened to her words except on one issue: Itachi.

Itachi…She sadly knew he would never come back, but he was her son after all and she loved him dearly no matter what he did.

_"Sasuke! No matter what you do, you can't bring back your father and dead clansmen to life, and I miss them too! But we need to move on!"_

But Sasuke didn't listen and stormed off for his Wave mission, which he believed that would make him one step closer to kill Itachi. Fate was so ironic that her sons crossed path in Wave Country. The mission showed how hell-bent Sasuke was when he recklessly charged at Itachi, even in his exhausted state from the previous battle. Thanks to Naruto, Sasuke came out unharmed from that encounter.

It hurt a mother when her children fought each other, and how did Mikoto feel when her two sons were trying to kill each other? Not to mention it freaked her out that Kushina's son and her eldest son nearly killed each other.

'How could I face Kushina if Itachi killed her son?'

Teyaki Uchiha, the senbei shop owner, rushed to her. "Mikoto! The Godaime, the son of the Yellow Flash, your Hyuuga friend and some of their clansmen are here! Do you know what they want?"

After Naruto invited her and Sasuke to the evening party, he told her that he and his Uzumaki clanswomen would visit the Uchiha compound with a gift. She was curious why he didn't give it to her at the Hokage Tower.

'What kind of gift is it?' She wondered. Well, the gift shouldn't be a big deal. She had a bigger worry as she looked at Sasuke and became fearful on what if Sasuke met Naruto again. She was scared when Sasuke yesterday told her that he intended to pay Naruto for private training sessions with the bounty on Itachi's head once he succeeded.

The blond coincidently had said he should have pursued and kill the Uchiha Butcher and his partner in Wave Country, so he could then use the bounty to rebuild Minato's house and increase the Uzumaki treasury. She was sure that Sasuke would ask Naruto for training with the monetary offer and it's highly possible Naruto would agree to it.

The Uchiha mother already lost Itachi and she couldn't afford to lose Sasuke. She feared that her two sons would eventually kill each other. It was the greatest pain a mother could have. She had to prevent this greatest nightmare from becoming a reality.

Mikoto slowly walked towards the guest room with her crutch. All of the Uchihas were following their beloved matriarch, including Sasuke who was leading the Uchiha Corps. All of them wanted to see the one who defeated their champion and the greatest traitor in the clan history.

Sasuke believed that Itachi killed Fugaku and many Uchihas for his sick entertainment. In fact it was that they attempted a coup and he was ordered to take them out. The matriarch wondered if she should let her younger son to know the truth.

But would Sasuke believe the truth and accept it?

* * *

**Author Notes:**

It's been 3 months since CH09, but my job and being a father leaves me little spare time to write this story. English isn't my first language and I have some difficulty to write stories, but I'm learning and improving my writing skill. I release a chapter only when I believe it reaches a conclusion and/or 8K words, not too long and not too short. Honoka's part was already done two months ago, but I want Mikoto's and Sasuke's parts in this chapter, because their parts fit the title and the theme of this chapter.

Hinata's explanation should be clear enough about their victory in Wave Country: capture is very difficult hence it doesn't mean they were stronger than the opponent. The canon first Naruto vs Sasuke at the Valley of the End doesn't mean Naruto being weaker, because he was sent to capture, not to kill, while Sasuke wanted to kill him…and again in the second battle.

This arc contains a lot of drama, and is much about character development and the potential problems Naruto would face in Konoha. The Kumo matters are temporarily set aside until the later arcs. This arc also lets the readers know Konoha isn't weak as you have thought despite civilians' interference in the unedited CH09. I noticed criticisms on plots and I admit I made a mistake in CH09.

In the wake of Namikaze-Hyuuga incident/crisis and the tensions with Iwa and Kumo, the Leaf village had activated Crimson Contingency that was composed of several plans, new projects and battle tactics, and they will all be revealed or explained in this arc. Overall, Konoha is pretty much like the UK in World War Two that relied intelligence and tactics to fight the brute forces of Kumo and Iwa.

Many readers point out the brutality of Kumo in this story. In fact Kumo is based on Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany in WW2, because the Hyuuga Affair reminds me of the Munich appeasement and the Axis Powers bullying their neighbouring countries with their unreasonable gangster logics and military powers. I always think of the real-time World Wars when the ninja world had had three world wars before the series. The Kumo Slave and the Breeding Program is based on the similar programs ran by Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.

I'm not good at writing dialogue and interactions, the talks between Kakashi and Sakura, and Hinata and Sasuke took me weeks. I appreciate everyone's support and love for this Namikaze of Cloud despite my amateur writing skills. I will keep improving. I see high expectation on my story and I'll do my best to make this story awesome and more enjoyable.

Please leave a review!


	11. Potential Alliances

Everyone was anxiously watching as Mikoto Uchiha sunk her teeth deeply into Tayuya's left arm. The Uzumaki girl gritted her teeth at the pain. But the operation had taken very long and the Uchiha had shown no good signs yet. Naruto's shadow clone, codenamed Black, let out a sigh, "Lady Mikoto, we gotta stop and resume healing tomorrow. Please stop biting."

"WHY?" Sasuke asked aloud, almost pleading and voicing what every Uchiha was thinking. "Mum looks much healthier and she would be fine in a few more minutes. JUST A FEW MORE MINUTES AND THAT WILL BE IT PLEASE!" He and the rest of the Uchihas wished the operation would continue. Honoka held them back with her arms.

"I wish we could too, but we really have to stop it NOW." The Uchihas watched dejectedly when Mikoto released her jaw from Tayuya's arm. Tsunade stepped in to begin her medical scan on the crippled Uchiha matriarch while Hinata passed a food pill to Tayuya.

Honoka started to explain. "Heal Bite is another Uzumaki bloodline limit, like Chain Release. However, it is a dangerous technique that greatly drains the user's energy. The longer it takes, the riskier and more dangerous- hence it must be used carefully. There are many fatalities from use of Heal Bite, for example, most of the Uzushio medic deaths in the Last Stand came from chakra exhaustion: they sacrificed themselves by giving every last bit of their energy to heal their comrades. So initially, I disliked this idea when Naruto suggested healing your mother with Heal Bite, even though she was Lady Kushina's best friend. But we accepted the suggestion after Naruto told us the deal and the benefits to the Uzumaki clan when Lady Mikoto is healed."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Deal?" he questioned, now noting how the two Uzumaki girls were now red-haired, not raven-haired like when they had returned to Konoha yesterday. 'Are they originally red-haired like that genin teammate of mum's? Why did they change their hair colour?'

"We will have a meeting with your mother later. You should come along since you are the clan heir." The chakra chain user hinted.

Hitomi asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "How is it going, sensei?" Before the world's best medic could answer, the Uchiha matriarch got up from the makeshift medical table without her sensei's permission and tried to stand without her crutch. Everyone, Sasuke in particular, gasped as Mikoto slowly stood up, although she shook as she did so. Everyone watched in anticipation as she tried to take a few steps forward, but the mood turned to disappointment when the Uchiha's severely damaged left leg couldn't support her body. She would have fallen, but her sensei grabbed her arms just in time and chided her.

"Mikoto! What are you doing?! You shouldn't do this!"

"Sensei… I am sorry… I just wanted to try… And thank you…" Mikoto said quietly while looking crestfallen. She stood up again, after accepting her crutch from Hitomi, while listening to the world best medic answer Hitomi's original question.

"As you have seen, Mikoto's leg and back aren't completely healed." Everyone sighed in defeat and tears came to many Uchihas' eyes, especially Sasuke's. "But the bone fragments in the spinal column are gone… I can't believe it… Heal Bite is truly amazing despite the risk that it brings…" People's eyes widened at the realization that the cause of Mikoto's disability was now gone. The healing had produced some result and the fire of hope had been reignited.

"But can I ask for a favour, Honoka, Tayuya? Please let me take it over from here. I can do it. I want to fix my mistake." The Senju princess pleaded with determination in her eyes. "I know you want to ask a favour from Mikoto once you heal her, but please let me finish where I failed five years ago."

The kind Uchiha matriarch interjected on Tsunade's behalf. "Please let sensei do it. I will still listen to whatever favours you seek. Besides, sensei is an Uzumaki after all, isn't she?" Black looked to Honoka and Tayuya, who both nodded in assent.

"OK then, but Tayuya will be with you just in case." Tsunade gave them a slight bow to show her appreciation.

"Thank you. I will make sure that Shizune is with me this time."

"And don't fuck up this time, Lady Tsunade," an annoyed Tayuya added her point. Everyone in the chamber gasped while Black and Honoka facepalmed.

"D-Did she just say the F-word?" Miki whispered to Rei, Tekka Uchiha's daughter.

Everyone heard a sob and turned to find the Uchiha heir crying quietly. That terrible night, the massacre… they had left a very terrible scar on all Uchiha survivors, him in particular. His dad and many other Uchihas were murdered in cold blood, his mum crippled, those Uchiha children orphaned, and he was severely traumatized from that Tsukuyomi.

All of these were callously perpetrated by the man he idolized and used to call brother, merely to measure his capacity.

But little by little, that terrible wound would heal, as his mum started to recover; then she and he would protect their clan together. Wiping his tears away, Sasuke walked towards Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, the former Kumo jonin and ANBU who had defeated Itachi. Then to everyone's surprise, the proud Uchiha heir humbly bowed to the shadow clone. According to Hinata Hyuuga, Sasuke recalled to himself, Konoha had less than ninety days to prepare for an angry Kumo and her two jinchuurikis returning with a vengeance. To prevent that vision from becoming a reality, he had to be strong for his mother and clansmen. A wound to his pride was a small price, one that he was willing to pay for his clan's sake.

"Thank you for healing my mother! And please take me as your student! Please help me protect my people!"

Black was flabbergasted, "I thought you wanted boss to train you to kill Itachi?" The shadow clone froze in realization after blurting the name of that certain someone. He turned and saw the Uchiha Corps; every Uchiha child stared at him, some with tears gleaming in their eyes, others with pure, burning hatred. He now realized that the word 'Itachi' was a forbidden one in this very compound, much like 'Kyuubi', 'Nanabi' and 'jinchuuriki' in this village.

"Boss?" Sasuke asked.

"As a matter of fact, I'm a shadow clone and I can't decide this on boss' behalf." Black explained apologetically when Sasuke looked a little offended that the blond didn't come to heal his mother. "Boss was originally going to come here too, but there was a change of plan… Boss bumped into Neji, who was assigned for the inheritance recovery mission."

In the Hokage Tower, after getting documents done, Naruto had immediately created several shadow clones. He assigned Grey to the tomb location of a certain someone, Red to the Uzumaki Manor, Yellow to get some flowers with Inoichi, and White to get his parents' fortune. To the original Naruto's surprise and delight, he then met Neji in the mission hall, as he and Anko were assigned to help the blond to recover his parents' fortune. The Godaime pointed out that Anko had unique methods of persuasion for getting bank managers to cooperate.

But the Hyuuga's attitude and talk of fate irked and confused the blond until he discovered the reason… the seal on his surrogate brother's forehead. Everyone in the mission hall, even Tsunade and the infamous Snake Mistress, took a step back when they saw how Naruto's eyes flashed like a thunderstorm. The jinchuuriki immediately created and assigned Black to go with the Slug Sannin to heal Mikoto while he coldly declared that he had to personally handle a far more important matter in the Hyuuga compound. Naruto told his busty auntie that he would meet them in the Konoha Cemetery, before he shunshined away.

"For your sake, best not to piss off Naruto." Tayuya advised Sasuke. Many people gasped again at the swear words. Hinata stepped in.

"I will pass your messages to him." She promised. "But a piece of advice: Naruto is not in a very good mood now. Don't bother him now or he will never agree to train you. But I think you will have a great opportunity to bring it up after he talks to Fu at the party tonight." Tsunade, Mikoto and Hitomi raised their eyebrows at that name.

"Fu?" Sasuke asked. "The girl in Team 8? What does this have to do with her?"

"Like with the chakra cloak and chakra balls you have been asking about… I cannot answer regarding this either. Only Naruto and Fu can answer these questions for you."

XXXXXXXXX

Only Mikoto, Honoka, Tayuya, Hinata, Hitomi, Tsunade and Sasuke stayed in the guest room, as all other people, including all Uchiha seniors and a reluctant Hizashi, were requested to leave.

"The son of the Yellow Flash better trains Brother Sasuke to avenge our families!" Daisuke said to his fellow Uchiha Corps members, who all eagerly nodded in agreement. "I will give him my Tonton piggy bank and some of my inheritance from papa and mama." All of the children said they would exactly follow suit to persuade the blond who defeated their parents' murderer.

Rei added her suggestion. "We should even offer him a Lieutenant General position in our Corps as a reward! If he still doesn't agree, then we will resort to our ultimate weapon!" Every Uchiha child nodded again; no one could resist the Uchiha Corps' Puppy Eye Jutsu!

"We should enlist those two beautiful red-haired ladies too!" Miki said. She and many other Uchiha girls had started to look up to Tayuya in particular, who had fixed their kind surrogate mother's injury with her bloodline limit. To the girls, the redhead looked badass and a model kunoichi.

XXXXXXXXX

When the last unnecessary person left, Honoka immediately set up **Domain** privacy seals in the room corners.

"Now we can talk freely." The chakra chain user told all the people present.

"Tayuya, Honoka, I can't thank you enough for healing my wounds…" Mikoto gave a slight appreciative bow to them, and Sasuke followed suit. "Now, may I know the favour that you seek?"

The girls sat straighter in their chairs. Honoka started to speak. "We want the Uchiha clan's secret support for our Neo-Whirlpool endeavour." Mikoto and Sasuke widened their eyes.

"Secret support?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, our country became part of Fire Country after its destruction… this endeavour has to be secret until the time is right, because there are many people, especially the Fire Court members and nobles, who don't want our country to regain its independence. The Land of Whirlpool has an abundance of precious ores and metal, and it is a strategic trade and transport hub. We don't believe the Court will easily give up a province that provides lucrative profits they enjoy so much." Honoka explained. "And we know many people here won't let Naruto go, due to his _special status_."

'Jinchuuriki status…' All three members of Team Tsunade thought.

"Special status? Being son of the Yellow Flash?" Sasuke asked again.

"Yeah, you can say that too. Konoha wants another Yellow Flash to suit her interests." Tayuya said cynically. "We know some pric-uh, some people in the Konoha Council won't let Naruto leave, but Naruto is the key for Neo-Uzushio. Only he can use the Uzumaki Reclaimer ruby and rally the Uzushio survivors, because he is the last member of the ruling line after Lady Tsunade. The two of us are from the branch line in the clan." Tsunade looked at the confused faces of her two genin students and Sasuke, and decided to provide an explanation.

"For your information, my grandmother Mito was the heiress to the Uzumaki clan, until she gave up that position to Naruto's great-grandfather and married Hashirama Senju. Only Naruto, as the only living ruling house member, can wield the Reclaimer stone to find the other Uzumakis scattered across the world."

Honoka continued her proposition, "In return for the Uchiha clan's support and connections, we are willing to teach or provide you Sanctuary territory seals in your compound, so you can protect your clan from Itachi trying to 'finish the job'. Also the Uchiha clan will also enjoy special privileges in Neo-Whirlpool Country along with the Senju and the Hyuuga clans."

Sasuke found this proposition very tempting and it didn't take him long to make a decision. "Mum, you have to agree to this! This can restore our clan's glory and make us even more powerful!" He urged his mother on, before an idea came to his mind and he turned to Honoka and Tayuya. "One more condition, can you ask Naruto to train me for my clan's sake?"

"Quiet! You don't make a decision in haste! You don't make an important decision that quick. You have to judge its pros and cons!" Mikoto shot her son a glare, making him quiet. She turned to reply to the Uzumakis. "This proposition is very good, but too important for me to decide now. Please give me a few days to recover and think about it…"

The two Uzumaki girls nodded, and the chain user turned to speak to Sasuke, "I will relay your request to Naruto, too."

"Naruto might bring up some smaller personal requests to you, but not until he confirms the existence of a certain someone…" Tayuya added. "But we will talk about them later."

Tsunade was in deep thought. There was little information about Izuna Uchiha, except him being Madara's last living brother before mortally wounded by Tobirama Senju, and that he lived long enough to see the birth of his daughter, who later became Mikoto's mother. 'When sensei told us Minato was Tobirama's grandson and Naruto hinted that Madara was responsible for the Kyuubi's attack 13 years ago. I can't help but wonder if Madara did it as a revenge on Tobirama for killing Izuna… How is Madara still alive? And how did he find out about Naruto's birth?'

XXXXXXXXX

At the same time Hiashi was sitting at his desk reading over an Uzushio history scroll concerning her relationship with her sister village Konoha, while Naruto silently sat across from him waiting. "_Uzushio was the capital of Whirlpool Country, ruled by the Uzumaki clan. It was not a ninja village but was ruled by a ninja clan that was related to the Senju clan. The hidden whirlpool village was credited to the founding of the first ninja village – Konoha- along with the Senju and the Uchiha clans, through Mito Uzumaki, the then-Uzumaki heiress who married the Shodai Hokage. Then, Uzushio adopted Konoha's ninja system and became a ninja village afterwards in response to the potential threat from the newly established Kirigakure and Kumogakure._"

The contribution of funds, resources and fuinjutsu made the Uzumaki clan the unofficial third Konoha founder clan. This part of the history was even taught to Kakashi's generation during their academy days, until the Kyuubi's attack 13 years ago, Hiashi acknowledged. Of course, Hiashi knew that the Hyuuga and the Namikaze clans joined the Leaf village later, like the Sarutobi and the Shimura clans.

Hiashi continued to read the scroll. "_Lady Mito Uzumaki-Senju, the legendary Konoha Red Queen, had countless achievements in her lifetime; most noticeably being a Konoha founder beside Hashirama Senju, his brother Tobirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha. Another bright spot was her helping secure her husband's decisive victory over Madara Uchiha by sealing the Kyuubi no Kitsune into herself thus becoming a jinchuuriki. Yet she had one great black mark on her legacy: the controversial introduction of the forbidden curse seal techniques for the Konoha prison system: the Caged Bird Seal_…Caged Bird Seal?!" a shocked Hiashi asked aloud, eyes widened. "Is it from the Uzumaki clan?! How can it be possible?" The Hyuuga turned to look at Naruto, who quietly nodded before he started explaining.

"The Uzumaki clan had used the Caged Bird Seal at the start of the Warring States Era 200 years ago. The fuinjutsu was originally an Uzumaki clan's weapon of terror against clans with kekkei genkai, particularly those in the neighbouring Water Country like the Kaguya clan. Although it ceased military application at the end of the era, it still remained in the prison system. The Hyuuga clan somehow managed to gain the technique around that time; even the fox doesn't know how they did it. I assume it happened before the Battle of the Valley of the End and when Lady Mito sealed the fox into herself. Take a look at the Uzushio version of Konoha foundation history in that black scroll, Section 8." Hiashi began to read it.

"Hideyoshi Hyuuga, that's my great-grandfather," Hiashi exclaimed. "He was the Hyuuga clan head at that time and he demanded fuinjutsu learning as a condition to join Konoha. Using that opportunity, he learnt, or stole as many Uzumakis suspected, the bastardized version of the Caged Bird Seal technique…Bastardized version?" Hiashi asked, and Naruto smirked darkly.

"The Hyuuga Caged Bird Seal seals Byakugan at death, and inflicts pain and death, and that's all. But the Uzumaki one, call it the Primal Caged Bird Seal… can do much more. You ever wonder why I did that fuinjutsu stunt on your elders yesterday, on their chests specifically?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "The Primal Caged Bird Seal can be used on torso. I want to send a message that your clan put that vile seal on your people's foreheads as an act of **humiliation and enslavement! I can't believe it you did it to Neji and his sister, HIASHI!**" the whiskered blond bellowed in demonic tone.

Thanks to decades of Hyuuga and ninja training, Hiashi barely managed to hide his shock and fear. This Naruto was completely different than the one he chased after yesterday. The blond's eyes were so murderous that the Hyuuga actually took a step back when the boy confronted the Hyuuga clan head for his surrogate brother. Yesterday, Naruto started to call Hiashi and Hitomi "Father" and "Mother" respectively, after he proposed to their daughter, much to their happiness. But now the blond was simply calling the clan head "Hiashi". Thank Kami he was Hinata's father, otherwise the jinchuuriki might have sent him to hospital.

"The elders carried out the task while I was away!" Hiashi defended. He and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were at Taki negotiating for a certain someone with the Waterfall leadership. "I was angry too when I learnt my elders performed the rituals on the unmarked Branch children and named Hanabi the heiress without my approval. They said the traditions must be followed, and there is nothing I can do about the seals!"

"So it isn't you who put that damned seal on Neji's forehead? Good. And I should have a talk with your elders, including those in the jail…" There was a sadistic and feral smile on the blond's face that sent shivers down Hiashi's spine.

"But why didn't I know this seal is from the Uzumaki clan? And what claim do you have about it?"

"The elders didn't want you to know it…my guess is that it's because of your twin brother Hizashi and your code of honour that won't allow the use of this stolen technique. They fear you will abolish this tradition they enjoy so much. The fox can see what I see, just like he saw through Lady Mito and my mother." Naruto began to tell Hiashi what Kurama had told the blond. The fox witnessed Mito's horror and disgust when she saw a Hyuuga branch member being "disciplined" in a street and she recognized the seal on that Hyuuga's forehead. It was too late. There was little she could do with clan affairs and her husband Hashirama and brother in law Tobirama passed away. But using her influence, the Konoha prison ceased the Uzumaki practice and used a replacement binding seal. The Hyuuga clan continued this practice nevertheless, with the silent consent of the Konoha leadership due to the First and the Second Shinobi World Wars.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune hated Mito for sealing him, yet he held a begrudging respect for her and he hated enslavement more. Through Kushina, Kurama sadly watched the Red Queen passed away with regrets, as she firmly believed she was responsible for the Hyuuga Branch members' pain through the Caged Bird Seal that she introduced to Konoha. The tailed beast was not the only thing Mito passed to her successor Kushina Uzumaki: the task of ending the Hyuuga's use of the seal.

After hearing the jinchuuriki's story, Hiashi closed his eyes with heavy heart. "Lady Mito never realized that the Third Shinobi World War would soon follow the Second War, and it was the most brutal and bloodiest conflict in the shinobi world history. Then your mother was pregnant and your father took the mantle of Hokage to begin the reconstruction efforts. But they both died on that horrible night…"

There was a knock on the office door, Hiashi said "Enter," and Naruto promptly turned off the privacy seals. They were surprised to see the remaining six elders and many Main house members. The jinchuuriki reckoned that they numbered thirty two in total, four-fifth of the adult Main house members. But why did they all look surprised too?

'Why is the Kyuubi brat here?! How the hell did he come here? We didn't see him coming into the compound!' The Hyuugas inwardly looked at Naruto in disgust as if he was a stain on the office tatamis, before they all bowed respectfully to their clan head.

"Why are you here?" Hiashi demanded the reason for this huge presence. The question put the elders in an awkward position; how could they tell their clan head the real reason, in front of the Kyuubi brat, without incurring his wrath? But High Elder Hideo Hyuuga eased the situation as he stepped in and spoke politely.

"Lord Hiashi, we are here to congratulate you on your eldest daughter's marriage to Lord Namikaze, hence we advise that you should rescind your order and let Lady Hanabi become the heiress."

"What are you trying to say?" the blond asked dangerously, as he stood up and glared at the elder. His right hand was close to reaching the hilt of his katana, daring the Hyuugas to say anything foolish. If the elder suggested putting Hinata to the Branch house, then Naruto would personally teach him a lesson he would never forget for the rest of his life: never mess with an Uzumaki!

Hiashi put down his scroll and looked at his clansmen carefully, especially Hideo. The 68 year-old man had become the High Elder, after Hiashi and Hizashi's father passed away before the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident. This elder was jovial and that put people at ease. This ability made him a good negotiator and the real power in the Hyuuga Elder Council. He had often suggested a betrothal between his grandson and Hanabi.

But privately, both Hiashi and Hitomi felt this person was cold and calculating and reminded them of a certain bandaged Konoha elder. This man was definitely not the person to be trifled with.

"Hinata is my first born; it is her birthright after all. You named Hanabi my heiress without my approval in the first place." was Hiashi's firm reply to them. Some of the Hyuugas were inwardly fuming, but Hideo calmly took a few seconds to continue his arguments.

"No, I think you both misunderstood what I said, Lord Hiashi and Lord Namikaze." The elder placated them with a smile that put people at ease. "Lady Hinata is going to be the matriarch of both Namikaze and Uzumaki clans. The burden will be too much for Lady Hinata to be the matriarch of three clans. We have trained Lady Hanabi in every area for years and she is almost ready to be the Hyuuga clan head. Lord Hiashi, your two daughters will work well together to strengthen the alliance between the Namikaze-Uzumaki and the Hyuuga clans." Naruto and Hiashi were surprised at his words but several Hyuugas present looked surprised too. The elder made a gesture to keep them silent when they wanted to interject.

"We are here to congratulate you both." Hideo looked at Naruto and smiled again. "And Lord Namikaze, I don't know what you have been saying to our clan head. You are the leader of the Namikaze and the Uzumaki clans; you should know well that bad things will happen should you interfere with the internal affairs of other clans…" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the subtle warning.

"Now if you can excuse us." Hideo bowed to his clan head, the other Hyuugas followed suit before they left. In a flash, Naruto appeared in front of them and smiled _sweetly_, like a certain future Godaime Mizukage.

"Thank you, honourable elder. I appreciate your blessing very much. And I am sure you are sincere about it, because you know bad things will happen too, if someone wants to harm Hinata..." Then the jinchuuriki opened his red slitted eyes which scared all the Hyuugas. "**So leave me and Hinata alone and I will leave you alone. I didn't bring Hinata home just to be sealed and enslaved again after killing thousands of Kumo ninjas, kicking the Raikage's, Itachi Uchiha's and Kisame Hoshigaki's sorry asses!**" Naruto released his killing intent to make a point and everyone was taken aback. All the Hyuugas' unmarked foreheads were sweating and even Hiashi was affected, as his hands were slightly trembling.

If someone touched his Hinata and Uzumaki clanswomen, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze would give them a war.

"**He was lying about their intention coming here, probably because of your presence. They are up to something. I bet on my tails they won't leave Hinata alone.**" Kurama cautioned.

"_Yeah, I know. It's gonna take more than your testimony to convince Father to abolish this ugly tradition and you don't even want to talk to him. The Konoha elders are untrustworthy for their role in Uzushio's Last Stand. I have to find evidence of the Hyuuga stealing the Caged Bird Seal technique, to finish mum's job._"

"**Why don't you just do it the hard way? Quick and simple. I don't mind you using my power to force the Hyuuga clan to abolish that vile seal.**" The fox was grinning.

"_I don't want to always resort to violence and coercion, Kurama. And it's out of respect for Hiashi. He is Hinata's father and my father-in-law after all._" Kurama was pleased by his host's reasons.

"_We have to tread damned carefully for the Branch family's sake. But as a precaution and Hinata's protection, I think it's time to give Hinata that seal._" The fox raised an eyebrow.

"**That seal? The one Tayuya has?**"

"_Yeah, that one. Consider that seal as my dowry._"

XXXXXXXXX

The Hyuuga Main house group had just exited Hiashi's residence. Several Branch members hurried out of their way, as none of them wanted to be made a target by these curse-seal-happy Main house members. Hideo's eldest child Naoki spoke first.

"Father, why did you say that? Why did you give that brat your blessing?" he asked. "We were supposed to tell Hiashi he must follow the traditions, like his father had! No one marries outside the clan unmarked!"

"In front of the one who defeated Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki? I would have to have a death wish to suggest that in the Kyuubi brat's presence!" an annoyed Hideo retorted.

"But it's our clan affair. It's none of his business and there is nothing he can do!" another young Main member named Eisaku said.

"Yeah!" All the other young members chorused together, while the elders all looked a bit apprehensive.

'Even the younger generation of the Main house doesn't know the secret of our tradition. But the fewer that know, the better, for the good of the clan.' Hideo thought. 'I hope the brat doesn't know it, or the clan will be torn apart…'

"What had the Kyuubi brat been talking about to Hiashi, by the way?" an elder asked.

"We don't know, but we will find out." Hideo answered. "And I think it's pointless to brand Hinata, because I fear the brat is capable of removing the Caged Bird Seal."

Everyone gasped. "Impossible!"

"I hope so, but after the stunt he pulled off yesterday… There is no doubt Hinata will request her 'husband' to remove the seals and abolish our traditions when she becomes the next clan head..." the High Elder stopped in his track and turned to face everyone and spoke. "We have to buy time, to find a way to prevent Hinata's marriage with the Kyuubi brat, or from becoming the next Hyuuga clan head. All of you go tell all the Branch people that they are forbidden to get close to the brat. And don't let Hiashi and his family learn about this."

"And what about Hizashi's family? Neji is like a brother to the brat because they used to be together before the abduction. His family has been invited to the party and I've heard the brat and that fake heiress have been assigned to Neji's unit by both Hokages."

"Then tell Hizashi and Neji if they step out of the line, their family and fellows will suffer the consequences. Something tells me the boy is up to something…" Hideo said worriedly. "Perhaps we should have a talk with _him_. He might know what the brat is up to. He cannot be trusted, but he might be able to help us."

XXXXXXXXX

In the council chamber the Raikage and the rest of the Kumo leadership were watching a huge TV that showed a classified remote location in Lightning Country, a place only they knew of. Thanks to the compartmentalization policy, Naruto didn't have any knowledge of this location and the project involved. The screen showed the director of Kumo Research and Development division who picked up his microphone.

"Gentlemen, we will start the 44th Hell Storm test in one hour." Professor E addressed to his viewers. The large mountain gates behind the professor slowly opened. Local commander Toroi and more than a hundred Kumo ninjas marched out escorting a huge machine with three cannon muzzles to a railroad.

"We need to get it complete before the Chunin Exam Final in Konoha!" The scar-faced Raikage exclaimed in a feminine voice, courtesy of Naruto. Normally all the councillors would secretly laugh at their kage's girly voice, but the situation was too serious to do it now.

The weapon developer raised his grey eyebrows. "Why now? Isn't the weapon supposed to be used against Iwa four years later according to the plan?"

Dodai, the former chief drill instructor to the three jinchuurikis at their boot camp time, stepped in to explain, "With the disappearance of the two Kumo loyal jinchuurikis, B and Yugito, we have no choice but to rely on this. And we have also learnt that two of Naruto's girls are from Iwa leadership…" Everyone's face turned grimmer. The Raikage had contemplated to kill H when he learned that she let Naruto take the two girls under his wing, but couldn't since they needed to conserve every ninja at hand.

"There is no doubt Naruto will come back with a grand army that composes of Konoha, Iwa and Suna. The army will be even larger than the Combine that destroyed Uzushio. Fortunately Konoha is busy hosting the Chunin Exam this time and we have some time to prepare." A Kumo councillor said.

E frowned and spoke, "Then Hell Storm must be ready before the Chunin Exam Final but that gives us less than seven weeks. But I fear that is impossible." The Raikage roared and smashed his table apart.

"I DON'T CARE! GET IT DONE OR I WILL HAVE YOU HEAD!"

The professor didn't even shiver though, "Killing me will only make things worse, _Lord Raikage_…Haven't you and your councillors all learnt the lesson when you didn't take my advice not to kidnap the son of the Yellow Flash and the Hyuuga heiress in the first place? This nearly cost our village and your lives. Your impatience shall not cost Hell Storm, our last trump card…" He spoke in a dangerous low voice and calmly pushed up his glasses with his left middle finger. This blatant disrespect didn't go unnoticed by the viewers. But they said nothing for he had the power and intelligence to back it up.

Before the Raikage could roar again, C stepped in to ease the tension. "Sir, is it possible if we concentrate on developing one of the two modes?"

E thought for a moment and he _smiled_, "Yes."

"Which one?"

While the Kumo leadership was discussing about their crisis, unbeknownst to them, something was approaching Lightning Country with an offer of solution to their crisis. A flying temple under the flags with a music note was quietly and quickly sailing through the clouds, straight towards its destination.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Beta: Illuminated.

Proofread and consultation: Ookami88 and Lord Farsight.

1\. We all make mistakes, but we learn and grow up. There is no bashing in my stories, even of Sasuke, my least favourite character. I write without forcing things in. And it was Kishimoto who once made the point that "a good Sasuke is a dead Sasuke." But in my opinion, Kishimoto's writing went downhill after the Pain Arc. He went too far many times; for example, Naruto called Obito, the murderer of his parents and Neji, and who released the Shinju onto the Alliance, "the coolest guy". Kishimoto seemed to have no clue of what he was doing and he ruined his manga. Had it not been for NaruHina, I wouldn't have bothered to read the manga to the end. I never re-read the manga unless for this story's sake and I have found many fanfiction stories much more sensible and more enjoyable.

2\. There are many people requesting me to kill off Danzo ASAP. There are many stories on the site that kill Danzo off unreasonably early; however, I think he was a more difficult foe than the Raikage and Orochimaru. As I have said before, Kishimoto forced many things in his manga and I think it's Kishimoto who killed off the Uchiha clan rather than Danzo. It doesn't make sense a pragmatic leader would want to wipe out a powerful bloodline limit, especially children. To me, Danzo is a CIA-type person: ruthless and does controversial things in the name of their village/country. I also think Danzo being very similar to General Zod in Man of Steel movie that both are hardcore militarists who wouldn't stop to claim what they wanted; and in Danzo's case in this story, the Kyuubi and the Nanabi. But I won't spoil the story that when and what Danzo would do in this story and what would happen to him in the end. Keep enjoying this story, my friends.

3\. Some readers asked about the slaves Naruto rescued. The Water citizens and Zabuza and Haku will make a return at one point. I didn't do much story about the other girls under Naruto's protection in the Third Kumo Jinchuuriki Arc, because I wanted to have the Homecoming Arc and then the escape as soon as possible. Hence there will be a flashback story about Naruto's relationship with the two Iwa girls, at some point.

4\. I relocated this arc to chapter 10 and renamed this arc to "The First Day in Konoha" as its chapters happened on the same first day after Naruto and Hinata came back. Mikoto will eventually reveal the truth to Sasuke in another arc. This arc sets all the pieces on the board for the future arcs.

5\. To avoid confusion between the two characters, Fu and Fuu, who both will have lots of presence in this story, I reiterate that Fu is the Nanabi jinchuuriki and Fuu is the ROOT Yamanaka.

6\. I'm also looking for more proof readers and/or beta helpers. Who would like to help me?

Review please! Reviews make my writing feel rewarding and make me continue writing.


	12. Second Chance

"According to Chomei, he will be here soon! I can't wait to see him!" Fu said excitedly.

"Who?" Shino asked as he followed her.

"Naruto!"

Following them from behind were their sensei Kurenai Yuhi and Sai. The team was jumping from roof to roof en route to the Konoha Cemetery, as they had just finished another D-rank mission and they were now free. The jonin instructor smiled looking at her three students, as her team had worked unexpectedly well; their teamwork was even better than her boyfriend's Team 10, much to the amazement of all Konoha jonins.

After returning from her three-month long duty at the dangerous western garrison three years ago, the Genjutsu Mistress had been surprised to receive a long term S-rank assignment from the Hokage and the Slug Sannin, serving as guardian to this green-haired girl. To her honour and shock, she was the first non-jonin to receive access to information about Fu's special status: she was a jinchuuriki.

Now it all made sense to the kunoichi, such as when she had witnessed a shopkeeper refusing to sell the girl groceries. But kind Kurenai didn't share the common stupid sentiment against jinchuurikis, because, as a matter of fact, her sensei and her son were jinchuurikis too. It didn't take long for Kurenai to like the girl's cheerfulness and happy-go-lucky attitude, and quickly they became sisters in all but blood. Soon the jinchuuriki gained the liking of many of Kurenai's friends, especially Anko. It wasn't surprising to see that Fu and Anko bonded very well due to their mutual social status in the village, Kurenai considered. But the green haired girl desperately wanted friends of her generation when she arrived at the Leaf. Kurenai then turned to observe her two male genin students, Fu's first friends in Konoha.

There was Shino Aburame, a track and capture specialist, as well as the heir and the pride of the Aburame clan. The bug user was the brain of the team with his intelligence and logic. He was quiet and seemingly emotionless like a typical Aburame, but deep inside, the boy was compassionate, as evidenced by his well-hidden desire to protect his teammates, especially Fu. The Aburame clan was not warmly welcomed by most villagers, due to their relationships with insects. Thus, Shino understood the feeling of unfair treatment and could relate to Fu; Kurenai, however, suspected the feeling was more than the shared feeling of ostracism.

Sai, a reconnaissance specialist and a tanto user, had the annoying trait of giving most of his peers unfavourable nicknames and speaking insensitively. Sasuke Uchiha was his most unfortunate victim with the "dickless" nickname, much to Asuma's and Anko's amusement. But the most important of all, something was not right about this boy; his background was left a complete mystery except for the sole note that he came from an orphanage. Sai had the worst academic scores in the team, yet his skills showed otherwise when he effortlessly cut down the team's targets in the team's bandit-sweeping missions. The boy's actions saved his teammates, but this alarmed the jonin. Something told her that she had to watch out for this genin, just as she had been instructed by the Third and the Slug Sannin to watch out for a certain war hawk…

Team 8 had finally arrived at the Konoha Cemetery, and Kurenai had to put aside her ruminations. They gasped and were awed by the presence of tens of thousands of Konoha denizens gathered here.

"My goodness…. Most of the villagers are here." Kurenai studied the crowd. There was little space to move around, and many ninjas were standing on trees for a better view. The crowd was as large as the one for the Yondaime's funeral, 13 years ago, and more people were coming here. Fu gave a greeting wave to her carpenter friend Genno who smiled and waved back in response.

"Look! He's here!" A villager pointed to her left. Everyone turned their heads in that direction and saw a small group of people heading towards the final resting place of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, who were buried next to each other. The son of the Yellow Flash was in front of the group, with the Hyuuga heiress by his side.

'Sensei's son…' Kurenai thought. Following behind them were the two Uzumaki girls, the Third Hokage, the Slug Sannin, Hitomi Hyuuga, and Mikoto Uchiha. Naruto was wearing Uzumaki armour with a katana strapped on his back while the others were in beautiful kimonos. The boy's face was solemn and sorrowful. The group bore bouquets of flowers in their arms. The cheering crowd became quieted by the aura radiating from Naruto. The aura was regal and…sad. People quickly made space along the blond's way to his parents' graves.

Fu wanted to approach and greet her fellow jinchuuriki, but she found herself unable do it when she saw the deep and overwhelming pain in her fellow jinchuuriki's eyes. To everyone's surprise, the blond turned his face to Team 8, nodded, and gave Fu a genuine warm and acknowledging smile when he walked past the team.

"_What happened to him?_" Fu asked her tailed beast friend.

"**Konoha upsets him very much: Minato and Kushina paid the ultimate sacrifice for this village, yet their memory is spat on as their fortune was stolen and their house burned. Not to mention that the Uzumaki clan is long forgotten in the Konoha history books and her things have been stolen...**" Chomei explained. "**By the way, don't tell your teammates about this. And most importantly don't tell them about the Kyuubi. I understand you told them about me for their friendship, but you cannot tell them about him.**"

"_Okay. I understand, but I want to make the Kyuubi my friend too!_" Fu said cheerfully, before turning to her team. "Naruto will meet and talk to me at the party tonight." Fu told her team. "Sai, you are not from a clan, but you are invited to the party along with Lee, Tenten, Sakura and Ranmaru. He wants to meet all the K-15 members."

"Why?" Sai kept smiling.

"The Hokages have given Naruto command of K-15 and they have a special plan for our platoon." Fu answered.

Shino raised his eyebrows. "What?"

Sai kept smiling, but deep inside he was sure his master would summon him tonight and give him new orders to keep watch over another jinchuuriki and learn more about the tailed beasts.

"We will find out later." Kurenai said. The jonin was now thinking about a certain K-15 member, Yakumo Kurama, who was her first charge long before Fu came along. The girl had a fearsome talent in genjutsu but it was a double-edged sword that she couldn't control properly. The girl was adamant about becoming a kunoichi in service to Konoha three years ago. Kurenai and the Third Hokage finally relented, and requested Jiraiya to have Ido completely sealed. To compensate for this handicap, Yakumo began physical training regime and poison arts under Anko and Shizune's private tutelages respectively. But it seemed that that was not enough when Team Shizune was ambushed in their first patrol at the western garrison six months ago, Kurenai recalled. Thanks to Yakumo's knight in shining…spandex, she didn't become a casualty in the front. However, her teammates were not that lucky: one was KIA and another WIA.

It was just bad luck that it happened to the severely outnumbered Konoha team, but Shizune and Yakumo couldn't stop blaming themselves. Upon returning to Konoha, Yakumo put more effort into ninjutsu and taijutsu with the help of her hero and his sensei. Shizune and Kurenai had kept a wary eye on Yakumo, making sure she didn't become another faithful follower of the Flames of Youth. They had shuddered at the thought of Yakumo in a green jumpsuit and preaching about the 'Flames of Youth'. Rock Lee was enough in the village.

'If Yakumo didn't have her power sealed and could have used her power properly, the team might have survived that fight with more than 20 Iwa ninjas.' Kurenai thought. 'She is a genjutsu prodigy, and might even reach Itachi Uchiha's level. It's such a waste that she couldn't use her talent. But that's the best Lord Jiraiya could do with his fuinjutsu…'

Kurenai's thoughts turned to the day before, when she, Asuma, Anko and many other jonins were in the jonin bar listening to Kakashi's tale of his Wave mission. It began as a C-rank mission, then rose to A-rank, and finally became S-rank. Everyone's jaw dropped when Kakashi described how his team encountered Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, yet came home in one piece. It should have been impossible for anyone, even Kakashi, to survive facing two of the most dangerous missing-nins in the world, but Naruto, Hinata and their people defeated the two S-rank criminals with the legendary Uzumaki fuinjutsu.

'Naruto's fuinjutsu is more powerful than his parents' and Lord Jiraiya's. He must be a fuinjutsu genius no one has ever seen before, and he might have a solution to Yakumo's and Anko's problems. They deserve a second chance in their lives…like Fu got her second chance in Konoha…I need to ask for his help.' Kurenai resolved.

Back in the present, Naruto and Hinata knelt down in front of Minato's and Kushina's gravestones, and all the Leaf ninjas and villagers lowered their heads in respect. Honoka stepped in and set up a privacy seal so people couldn't eavesdrop on their prayer to Minato and Kushina.

"Dad, mum. I wished I could have visited you earlier, but….long story short, me and my fiancee were kidnapped 10 years ago. And you know who was responsible for this? Kumo. Dad made a big mistake letting that gori live. Konoha should have sent Kumo a _message_ after they tried to kidnap mum. Anyway, we made it home yesterday. Ah, I almost forgot to tell you about my fiancee, Hinata Hyuuga. She is Hiashi's and Hitomi's daughter. You two had wished we could have become friends but we have become much more…" Naruto said bashfully and shuddered at the memory of Hiashi nearly castrating him yesterday. The blond quieted and let Hinata pay her respects to her parents-in-law.

Hinata laid down her flowers on the two gravestones and spoke softly, "Thank you for bringing Naruto to me…I wish I could have met you and called you Father and Mother…." Hinata looked at Kushina's gravestone. "Mother, I know your last words to Naruto…I hope you don't think I'm a weird girl but I love your son as much as you did. I hope you accept me as your daughter-in-law. I will take care of him, and that's the promise of lifetime…"

Hitomi's turn was next. "Minato, Kushina, I can't thank your son enough for saving my daughter and bringing her home safe. Kushina, remember your promise to Hizashi in your Chunin Exam Final match, that you would one day change the Hyuuga clan? I believe your son will finish your job and help me to fix the rift in the Hyuuga clan one day." She made an appreciative bow to Kushina's gravestone. "I will help your son to achieve your dream. The support from Konoha clans is definitely not enough, and I will advise your son to seek Whirlpool's former best allies. But the leader of Snow Country is dead and his daughter has gone missing- that leaves Demon Country Naruto must seek support from. I'm sure the High Priestess will renew the alliance with Neo-Uzushio."

Honoka bowed after laying her flowers. "Lord Minato, Lady Kushina, thank you for your son saving me." The Chain user focused on the Red Death's gravestone. "Lady Kushina, I have learned from your file that you and Dai Maito were the two war heroes at the Kiri frontline in the last war. Dai was responsible for the decimation of the elite Kiri Seven Swordsmen, and you, Lady Kushina…You mercilessly slaughtered both Kiri advance battalions, at least one thousand soldiers, in vengeance for the Uzumaki clan and Uzushio. Your actions stopped Kiri's invasion in Fire Country and earned you the moniker of Red Death…I admire you and promise that I WILL become the second coming of Red Death."

Tayuya next paid her deep respect to Naruto's parents. "I am very thankful that your son found me in the slum and accepted me as a member of his family. I don't have Chain Release like you and Honoka do, but I swear to fucking Kami that I will become a fearsome kunoichi like you, and make every enemy piss in their pants when they see me. And I will make our country Whirlpool rise again."

It was Mikoto's turn after the Sandaime and Tsunade paid their respects to Naruto's parents. "Kushina…Lots of things have happened since your passing. Your son and Hitomi's daughter were kidnapped by Kumo, but they have returned home safely." Mikoto paused for a while, thinking about her older son. "But…Itachi could never come back here and he could never have a happy and safe life. And recall Izumi, the Uchiha girl you liked very much? She was struck by Itachi's Tsukuyomi and rendered socially crippled. She is terrified of everyone except me and Inoichi and huddles withdrawn at home. Inoichi said the Tsukuyomi she suffered from was a dream of her happy family life with Itachi…They could have been a nice couple but their happiness was ruined by our clan's foolishness…"

Mikoto closed her eyes recalling her memory of Itachi and Izumi being together in the past even as she was dismayed that her son sometimes hurt the girl. And before coming to the cemetery, she had been thinking about the Uzumaki's Whirlpool proposition. Her younger son still had a long way to go before becoming the next Uchiha clan head; he didn't realize support for Whirlpool would cost the Uchiha clan friends in Fire Capital.

Normally, the Uchiha matriarch would hesitate to agree to such a thing, even for her best friend, as this would cost the clan's interests, and it was her duty to put clan above personal feeling. But not in this case; Mikoto quickly made her decision, and indulged herself with a little selfishness. It was Itachi's sacrifice that allowed many Uchihas to survive the purge and he deserved something. Mikoto made a decision on the spot.

"I will help your son in his Neo-Uzushio endeavour; it was your dream too, after all. I hope I won't be asking too much but I want to lease a remote island of Whirlpool and have it protected by genjutsu and fuinjutsu. Everyone deserves happiness and…I want to give Itachi and Izumi a second chance to pursuit their happiness…"

XXXXXXXXX

Among the crowd, Danzo Shimura was silently watching the group paying their respect to the Yondaime Hokage and the Whirlpool Princess. Behind the ROOT leader were his most elite agents, one each from the Aburame, Yamanaka and Hyuuga clans.

It wasn't hard to recruit the Hyuuga to his organization 13 years ago, much easier than the Hatake, thanks to three little magic words: "Caged Bird Seal" and its origin from the Uzumaki clan.

There had been an attempted assassination on Minato and Kushina's son by a Hyuuga elder, shortly after he came into Hiashi's custody 13 years ago. Needless to say, the Konoha leadership was shocked and furious, and later Inoichi Yamanaka found out that the seal and its origin were the motivation for the attempted assassination.

It was bad enough that enemy villages had put the baby in their Bingo Books with a top bounty, and the situation became worse with the boy's life under serious threat within the village walls. The Uchiha clan was already a big problem due to their suspected involvement in the Kyuubi attack at that time, and the Konoha leadership couldn't afford to have another major clan causing trouble. Hiruzen and his two advisors feared the Hyuuga clan would rupture and endanger Minato's son when, not if, both the Main and the Branch families learned the secret of their traditions. So in the end, they decided to suppress this information even from Hiashi, and Inoichi had sworn to keep it a secret.

It was a golden opportunity for the ROOT elder to make his own use of the secret and bring word of this discovery to a certain Hyuuga jonin, given his friendship with the Yondaime Hokage. The shocking revelation and a proposition produced the expected outcome: the Hyuuga Branch member joined his organization, because they shared a mutual goal regarding the boy.

He had thought his Hyuuga agent would have come along with the boy's group, instead of idly standing there watching them pay respect to the deceased, as he was Minato's best friend, and furthermore, had secretly crushed on Kushina during their academy times. The elder knew that the Hyuuga fell hard for the Uzumaki, and he even secretly kept holding a torch for her nowadays. The Hyuuga was too ashamed to face Minato and Kushina in their graves because he had betrayed his best friend's trust by using the blood-wired security seal to break into the Namikaze's estate, steal their scrolls, and burn down the house.

The Shimura "green-lit" the Hyuuga's proposal, as the end justified the means and it was necessary for Konoha. The village was in an unprecedented crisis when her jinchuuriki, as well as the potential Yellow Flash, was kidnapped while tensions with Iwa were high. Any proposal carefully wrapped in the blanket of being "good for the village" was usually assured passage. The proposal became acceptable when the village could receive overall benefit, even if there was some questionable personal gain from it.

The desperate father would do anything to save his children and descendants from the fate of eternal servitude. That made the man more manipulable, just like the Nanabi jinchuuriki who desperately wanted friends. Desperation attracts vultures, no, hawks.

This was the father's second and last chance, and he would help the ROOT leader to achieve that goal without question in exchange for loosing the eternal shackles on his family and people. The Namikaze-Hyuuga incident had ruined their special plan for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki 10 years ago, but now the boy was back as a perfect jinchuuriki, much better than he had hoped for in his original plan. Better, he had even brought back a goldmine of Uzushio secrets and two back-up jinchuurikis, and one of them had a very interesting ability.

His Hyuuga agent had reported to him what really transpired in the Uchiha compound and how the Uchiha matriarch had recovered. The crippled elder observed Tayuya with unusually great interest while thinking about the right side of his body.

An hour ago, a Hyuuga Main member came to his house with an invitation to the Hyuuga compound for the party tonight. The elder had already received an invitation from the clan matriarch, but this one was from the remaining six elders with a special purpose. Something was going on inside the compound and he would put his prized right eye on the Caged Bird Seal, the boy, and his announced betrothal with the reinstated Hyuuga heiress.

It became complicated considering his deal with the Hyuuga agent next to him. But the ROOT leader was willing to do anything for Konoha, even to the extent of associating with both sides without them knowing it. He could watch and carefully exploit the Hyuuga infighting that would drag in the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

It was time to start to formulate a plan, Danzo concluded. Tomorrow morning, he would travel with his three elite agents to Fire Capital to have a talk with his Fire Court friends and the Daimyo's heir, all of whom shared his views on how to run their country/village.

'Hiruzen and the Senju princess are fools. They refuse to do what is necessary to the Nanabi when the war threat is lingering. And they'll allow the Uzumakis, especially the boy, to leave Konoha after Kumo is dealt with!? This is outrageous! Don't they want to have Konoha prosperous and supreme? How many more foolish acts are they going to make?' The Konoha's Darkness looked at the jinchuurikis, _his jinchuurikis_. 'It's a fool's gambit to let the Kyuubi and the Uzumakis go. I will do anything for Konoha… You cannot walk away, boy… We own you jinchuurikis, and WE ALWAYS WILL.'

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Beta: Illuminated.

Proofread and consultation: Ookami88 and Lord Farsight.

1\. I would like to poll you guys: who would you like to pair Tayuya with? She could not pair with those already paired.

2\. There was mention of an attempt on Naruto's life by a Hyuuga elder in Chapter 1. There are many examples of foreshadowing in this story, like Taki in Chapter 3.

3\. Mikoto and Izumi were the only two battle-capable Uchihas Itachi spared from the massacre as they were deemed "non-hostile". Naruto's abduction made Danzo more "pragmatic" and "lenient" on the coup. Izumi would have to overcome her problem when her clan and Konoha were in need.


	13. Golden Couple

_**Temporarily shut down Firewall between 2130 and 2140, sharp.**_

_**Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage.**_

Sitting in his command chair, special jonin Raido Namiashi read the instruction scroll and checked the signature _carefully_ for a third time, to confirm that the order was authentic. He had to make sure that this particular order, even if it was delivered by an ANBU, was really from the Sandaime.

Shutting down the Firewall dome barrier seal array without the Hokage's authorization was high treason, and the only punishment was death, slow and painful. The thought that the consequence of this crime was even harsher than the jinchuuriki law made the special jonin shudder.

The scarred-nosed man was serving his eight-hour shift as the commander in charge of **Konoha Operations Centre**. The centre was located in the sublevel two of the Hokage Tower and it was the most restricted area, as it was the nerve centre of Konoha military power.

The scroll also contained an additional memo announcing that the Uzumakis would come to visit this chamber some days later to review the Firewall defence. The special jonin was to inform the hidden ANBU security team of this information and have the guests' blood registered in the blood-wired security seal at the entrance doors. The team had to be informed beforehand, as ANBU stationed here could kill any suspicious person first and ask questions later.

The centre was built in response to the Sandaime's slip of tongue on Naruto's heritage and the subsequent crisis caused by the Namikaze-Hyuuga incident. The facility ran 24-7, and holidays were no exception. Screens was everywhere on the three walls in this very chamber. They showed surveillance footage outside the village walls and video communication with garrison commanders in case of emergency. Some staffs were communicating in soft voices with their counterparts in the two garrisons and key patrol units for sit-reps every 30 minutes. Most of the twenty staff here were maimed soldiers wearing Suna prosthetics; they refused to retire and wished to continue their ninja services to Konoha.

Raido had once read a fictional work that concerned a military base that was thought too strong to attack, but lack of vigilance cost that nation and her fleet dearly. He would not let Konoha become another Pearl Seaport, not on his watch.

The special jonin witnessed his colleague Aoba Yamashiro asked Kakashi Hatake for a favour so he could attend the party at the Hyuuga compound tonight. The copycat ninja remarked that it was a big favour to request; he needed to use his connections, and demanded the reason. The intelligence officer, with blush on his face, had told them that he was "interested" in a certain beautiful, red-haired girl that he saw near the Hyuuga compound yesterday. He wanted to speak to her at the party.

"_Oooh…Love at first sight huh?" _Kakashi asked in amusement while flipping a page of his precious orange book. Raido couldn't help but snicker, much to the embarrassment of Aoba.

The special jonin looked at the panel of buttons and seals that was on his command chair. This very control panel operated Firewall, **Mechanical Eight Trigrams Formation**, and other village defences, making Konoha a battle fortress. There were two other control panels in the Leaf village; one in the Hokage Office, and another one in the ANBU commander office.

Firewall was a sophisticated sphere barrier fuinjutsu that outclassed the Konoha barrier teams in terms of defences and manpower efficiency. The seal array would occasionally shutdown for festival fireworks, and it was always operated by the Hokage in the office. But sometimes, the task would be left to the commanding officer in this centre when the Hokage was absent from the office. The temporary shutdown tonight was for the celebratory fireworks marking the return of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze and Hinata Hyuuga.

"It's about time. Carry it out, Tsubaki." The special jonin ordered.

"Aye, sir." The kunoichi nodded and spun her chair 180 degrees, turned on the village PA and spoke, "Attention, this is Konoha Operations Centre. All Battalion J personnel: please report to your mobilization station at 1700. I repeat: Battalion J personnel, please report to your mobilization station at 1700. Tardiness is not acceptable."

After making sure that all staff were doing their jobs and that the village security would be beefed up by Battalion J tonight, he turned to a TV news channel and watched the anchor making his latest announcement. _"…Despite protests and threats from several feminist groups, the highly anticipated Icha-Icha Sensei novel has reached 3 million pre-ordered copies. The publisher has announced it will issue an additional a hundred thousand units of the Super Pervert Edition, since the first a hundred thousand sold out within 10 hours on the announcement date two months ago. Die-hard fans who failed to pre-order it will rejoice! Why? Because this Super Pervert Edition comes with a pair of anatomically correct wooden puppets capable of all 'positions'. The book's sales are expected to reach 5 million copies; literary critics who pored over the 100 page previews said that it is the most hentai and hottest in erotic novel history!"_

The anchor continued to read from his teleprompter excitedly as his nose puffed. _"The story begins with a lonely child who has had a demon inside him and has a magical ability that controls sand, but he has been purged of evil by a sage, and finally gained the recognition of his family and fellow villagers, including his father. Later the boy engages with his female student in a forbidden sensei-student erotic romance that involves the kinkiest acts with his sand tentacle ability. A critic has confided that the preview made her touch herself while reading. Wow! On the other hand, this will probably make the Icha-Icha Paradise movie actress casting more difficult. But I'm optimistic that an actress will eventually accept the role..."_

Raido chuckled. Kakashi had mentioned the puppets were manufactured in Suna; it seemed their ally had made some small fortune from Icha-Icha series. "I bet Kakashi, Ebisu, and Anko have also pre-ordered the Super Pervert Edition and will go to the midnight launch. Perhaps I should get one too…"

XXXXXXXXX

_Mobilization Station 10_

Every Konoha battalion had its own underground mobilization station, and each could accommodate at least one thousand soldiers, or one thousand people for shelter in case of emergency. At Station 10, Battalion J commander and veteran of the Second and Third Shinobi World War, jonin Akira "Roughneck" Jinnouchi stood on an overlooking platform with his arms crossed over as he observed the 1000 soldiers under his command. Standing behind him were his command staff and bodyguards, who comprised the First and the Command Platoon.

Tsubaki's voice was heard again from the village PA, "Attention everyone, the gates will be closed between 1900 and 2300. Any person who wishes to leave the village must do so within two hours. I repeat: the gates will be closed between 1900 and 2300. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

The extended gate closure time was to cause enemy confusion about the security measure. Of all Battalion J soldiers, only commander Akira knew the exact time of the Firewall shutdown tonight.

Many ninjas were chatting, particularly about the son of the Yellow Flash, while some were checking their weapons and supplies, but the commander knew well that every shinobi and kunoichi here was hungry for action. At 1700, his staff confirmed everyone had arrived. He turned around and gave a nod to his XO kunoichi, who nodded in return and put chakra in her voice.

"ATTENTION!" Everyone snapped to attention and they all slowly walked towards the platform. "Second, third and fourth platoons help secure the eastern, southern, and western gates respectively. The remaining platoons rendezvous with the patrol units at the village border according to the screen."

The huge station TV on the wall came to life, gaining everyone's attention. The screen displayed 12 spots with numbers on top of them respectively. Chunin platoon leaders quickly memorized their own patrol locations.

"Diamond, Spade, and Club Companies: link up with the wall guards. Heart Company beefs up the village street security."

Akira allowed several seconds for everyone, especially the company special jonin captains and platoon chunin leaders, to take in his order.

"All right," the jonin boomed as he strode out of the overlooking platform and faced every man and woman under his command before addressing to them. "Listen up boys and girls! Keep your eyes peeled, weapons and jutsu ready, and we'll all get a nice C-rank paycheque and a lovely night… AM I RIGHT, BATTALION J?"

"SIR YES SIR!" Everyone roared the answer in union, thundering the whole station.

The jonin nodded in satisfaction, "Uh-huh. Damn right I am. But Konoha ain't paying us by the hour! Now move your asses! Double time!"

XXXXXXXXX

_Hyuuga Clan Party Hall_

Everyone was predestined at birth and everything was determined by fate- that was Neji Hyuuga's philosophy, because Lady Hanabi and his sister Aoi were the great examples of this notion, just like their fathers.

It was fate that history repeated again as his sister was born on the same date as Lady Hanabi. And most ironically, they looked very similar, just as their fathers were twins except for the marks on their foreheads…

It was fate that he and his sister along with the other unmarked Branch children were branded with their Caged Bird Seals on Lady Hanabi's third birthday. He persevered and gritted his teeth in pain when the elders put the damned seal on his forehead, but his little sister's cries of pain finally broke him.

Aoi remained outgoing and joyful, like Lady Hanabi, for a while despite the seal on her little forehead. But it all changed when the elders Kakuei and Noboru activated the seal on her for just bumping them in a hide-and-seek game. His little hollyhocks sister was traumatized and became a very shy and timid girl afterward. Observing this change deepened his hatred towards the Main house.

It was his fate to best the Main house one day and set the Branch house as equal to them. Thus, he trained non-stop to make sure this would become a reality. He had become a ninja last year, just like his parents. He had been proud of achieving top scores in every field, and was happy to see the look of pride on his father's face and receive lovely hugs from his mother and sister when he achieved the Rookie of the Year honours.

The Hyuuga prodigy's achievements reached another level when Iwa spotted and ambushed Team Shizune in pursuit of some kind of payback for their heiresses. It was fate that his handicapped teammate Lee rescued a handicapped kunoichi in distress, Yakumo, when he opened his fifth gate to fight a **Juggernaut**, a new type of elite armoured ninja from Iwa's powerful Explosion Corps. Most importantly, Team 3 was awarded medals and commendations by the Hokage personally, based on the report by Western Garrison commander Kosuke Maruboshi. Furthermore, he and Tenten were promoted to chunin by the Sandaime after their return from the garrison, for holding up well against another two Juggernauts.

This made his father prouder. But to Neji, it was all decreed by fate, and it was his fate to lead the K-15 platoon, until Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze took over. This made him recall a certain bitter memory; it was just like Aoi's Hyuuga Corps happened again.

One year ago, Aoi had run home crying, and he had done his best to soothe his precious little sister as she explained the situation in sobs. The Hyuuga Corps was founded by the Branch children and led by her, when they saw the competitions between the Uchiha Corps and the Monkey Corps. Aoi and the other children had used most of their Tonton piggybank money to buy cardboard shurikens, bamboo swords and other equipment, and he had even contributed some. It made him smile when Aoi and the other Branch children laughed and boasted of the many occasions they had won over the Monkey Corps and the Uchiha Corps over the past year.

It was all fun and games until the elders soon learned about it. Normally, they would have frowned and banned this activity, as it was very "un-Hyuuga". But much to his surprise, they allowed the Hyuuga Corps and encouraged the Main house children to join as a perfect way to show the clan's superiority to the Uchihas. It came at a cost though… Aoi was forced to step down from leadership or she would suffer the consequence: the activation on her seal for "insubordination."

'_Insubordination!? What the F!? This was just a kids' game!'_ Neji had sputtered inside.

The leadership was given to Lady Hanabi and Lord Hideyori, High Elder Hideo's grandson. Aoi had been "demoted" to a senior non-commissioned officer rank, while the other Branch children were busted down to mere grunts. _'The Main house took over the Branch house's hard work without breaking a damn sweat.'_

He had ragingly clenched his fists and blood quickly came out; there was nothing he could do with those curse-seal-happy Main house bastards. After getting his hands bandaged by his kindly mother, he talked to his father in his private study regarding the situation, later that night. He found the man studying a red scroll.

Father already knew what happened to Aoi, and he was very upset too, but he was a lot calmer. Instead, his father took a deep breath before putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder and had assured him. _"We must endure, Neji, and one day we will get back at the Main house for abusing us… One day, the Branch families will get the last laugh...One day, we will be free…"_

Neji was baffled at his father's words._"How could we get even with the Main house? That's impossible! How?"_

"_I've found the means to remove the shackles on us, and one day we will be free…"_

Neji's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe it, but Father's eyes told him otherwise. _"You really have? How?" _He noticed his father wasn't looking at him; instead he was staring at the red scroll with hope in his eyes.

"_Yes… But it's best for you not to know too much about this yet…"_ Hizashi smiled, and put his hands on Neji's shoulders. _"And have faith in me, son."_

"_Is there anything I can do to help you, Father?"_ Neji wanted to know more about the details and that scroll, but the desire for freedom for his family and people suppressed this curiosity. He wanted to join in this endeavour, but his father simply shook his head.

"_Thank you, Neji, but I have enough resources for this, and you need to focus on your shinobi career. Leave it to me, but one day I might need your help…"_

Now, Father had asked for his assistance; he wanted him to get close to an Uzumaki girl who always spoke with profanity and a scary attitude that kept people away from her. He couldn't understand this, didn't the Main house bastards just warn them to stay away from Naruto, and by extension his clanswomen?

"_Don't worry, leave this to me. Just do what I said and it will be fine,"_ Father had assured him, leaving him more confused. Father needed him to do it, so the Hyuuga prodigy took a deep breath and marched towards the Uzumaki girl.

There was soft music playing and beautiful lanterns everywhere in the Hyuuga compound as the clan was celebrating the safe return of Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Tayuya enjoyed a big piece of steak while amusedly watching a blushing special jonin named Aoba nervously talking to Honoka.

'Well you gotta pass through me and Naruto if you really wanna date Honoka; perhaps I should tell Naruto to have a talk with you with the Arashi… Just like Hiashi yesterday.' A devilish smile appeared on Tayuya's lips as she thought. Then she turned around and observed the Monkey Corps and the Uchiha Corps arguing over having Naruto joining their corps. The Hyuuga Corps children just stood there and watched their rivals arguing. Hinata had mentioned that her sister had invited her to join the Hyuuga Corps, but there was no invitation for Naruto; that was strange.

"Monkey Corps! Boss Naruto should join the Monkey Corps!" Konohamaru Sarutobi said, alongside Udon and Moegi. The children wore the Sarutobi, Mitokado and Utatane crest respectively on their kimonos.

"Hey! Don't you already have that Fu girl in your ranks? The son of the Yellow Flash should join the Uchiha Corps!" Daisuke Uchiha retorted, with Miki and Rei nodded.

"You Uchiha Corps have more members than the Monkey Corps, Daisuke! And don't you have Boss Naruto's two clanswomen in your corps?"

"How about we have a contest tomorrow, winner gets the son of the Yellow Flash in their ranks?"

"Bring it on, Daisuke! We will triumph this time and Boss Naruto will be in the Monkey Corps!" All three Monkey Corps members pumped their fists in the air.

Overhearing this, Tayuya raised an eyebrow at the Sandaime Hokage's grandson's words. The boy was one of the very few not calling Naruto the son of the Yellow Flash- that brat was interesting.

There were many other people at the party as well: clan heads with their spouses and children, and other high ranking ninjas, such as that mummy Danzo, who quietly sipped sake in a corner alone. There were also many people outside the Hyuuga compound trying to get in, and Tayuya was certain there were still many fangirls out there despite Naruto's engagement with Hinata. Security was tight here, and three layers of perimeters had been set up around the Hyuuga compound with regular ninja patrols, ANBU and the Hyuuga Branch members.

In Tayuya's view, these people, or at least most of the snobbish ones, had all come here for the son of the Yellow Flash. The victory over Itachi and Kisame had made things worse, and many people had begun to worship him as some kind of kami.

'I'll love to see how Hinata deal with these fangirls…'

Tayuya went to pick up more food from the buffet tables and started to chew. 'The party is good and the atmosphere is joyful. Many expensive foods and drink- the Hyuuga are loaded. But I still like the parties on board the Wind of Freedom more…'

Right after leaving the Lightning port two weeks ago, the Water citizens led by Asuka Terumi and Hinata wanted to throw a big party to celebrate their new freedom with Kiri cuisine. Later, each of the 123 Water girls one by one personally and tearfully bowed ninety degrees to thank the three Uzumakis. Added to that, she had healed the Uchiha matriarch and earned the gratitude of a big clan- that made her feel really good as she had done something very meaningful in her life.

'I wonder how Asuka and the other Water girls are now… I wish that they are all well. Zabuza better take great care of them.' She sensed and turned around to see that a Hyuuga teenager around her age, obviously a Branch member judging by his headband, was approaching her.

Neji mustered up his courage to talk to the redhead. "Excuse me, are you Tayuya Uzumaki?"

"Yeah, the one and only Tayuya Uzumaki. What do you want? And who are you?" Tayuya asked sharply.

"I am chunin Neji Hyuuga, second-in-command of K-15 platoon, as Naruto is now the leader. I think it is wise to know you and Honoka better since we are all in the same unit." The Hyuuga introduced himself with pride on his rank and his two medals on his left breast.

Tayuya raised her eyebrows. So this guy was Neji; Naruto had mentioned him several times and he spoke fondly about Neji and Kakashi as those whom he looked up to as big brothers. But his penchant for spewing fate bullshit made a negative impression on her.

"Well, Hyuuga, don't bother about it, because me and Honoka are assigned to Battalion U. It's pointless for you to know me better before you know Naruto and Hinata first." Tayuya replied coldly. Neji's eyes widened a bit, showing his surprise.

"But, I was there when the Hokage personally assigned you, Naruto and Honoka to K-15. Why the change?" Neji asked, wondering what had happened.

"After you left for Naruto's inheritance recovery mission, Naruto requested the Hokage to reassign us to another unit, with the rationale of not putting all our eggs in one basket."

Initially, Tayuya had wanted to end this conversation and to tell this Hyuuga to fuck off, but she wanted to know one thing. "By the way, Hyuuga, you mind telling me how Naruto's inheritance recovery mission went?"

Said Hyuuga inwardly sighed in relief that this conversation could still go on, and began to describe his mission. "Well, we have confirmed the civilian councillors guilty of embezzlement from the Namikaze and the Uzumaki accounts and we have seized their assets and businesses, including of those of the Haruno family." The Hyuuga prodigy turned around to look at Sakura Haruno at the party along with the other K-15 members. Tayuya followed suit and saw the pink-haired girl they met in Wave.

Neji continued, "Her parents' accounts have also been frozen for further investigation and they have lost their jobs at the councillors' department stores. The Godaime has ordered to transfer those businesses to Naruto's name. Those businesses will be under new management." He didn't need his Byakugan to tell that the pink-haired girl was very depressed and was trying her best to smile at the party, despite the fact that her Uchiha crush and friend/rival Ino Yamanaka were both in attendance.

"I see. Life will be very hard to her…" was the response Tayuya gave as she looked at Sakura from a distance. Although her family wealth stemmed from Naruto's stolen inheritance, she somehow pitied the pinkette. Until her parents' accounts were cleared, and the process might be very long, the pink-haired genin would become the only income source. And it was very hard for a genin to support their family alone, let alone a fresh genin. Although Tayuya didn't have a family until Naruto and Honoka found her, she understood well the hardship on making a living.

"Well, thanks for bringing back Naruto's inheritance fast." Tayuya gently patted Neji on the left shoulder and gave him an appreciative smile. Somehow, Neji found her smile attractive and… he got flustered. Tayuya didn't notice it.

"No need to thank me, Uzumaki. It is the decree of fate after all." Tayuya mood changed and she shot Neji a hard look that startled him a bit.

"Not this fate crap again." Tayuya hissed lowly, "There is no fate but what we make, Hyuuga. And it's Lady Tsunade who picked you up, as she trusted you and Anko for the task. Tell me, are your rank and medals awarded to you on a silver platter by fate, or did you earn them? So screw fate. I should give you a piece of my mind for saying 'everything bad happened to Naruto was fated', Hyuuga, but we are at a party now and I don't want to crash it. Anyway, you have my thanks and excuse me, but I gotta go to update Honoka."

Neji watched as Tayuya walked to Honoka. 'Man, this girl was fiery,' he thought, very impressed. The Gentle Fist genius then turned around and saw his father standing in corner giving him a "Well done, Neji," nod.

"May I have everyone's attention?" Hiashi called out. People turned and saw him and Hitomi.

"I thank you all for coming here to celebrate my daughter's safe return," Hiashi gave a rare genuine smile, surprising most attendees used to his stoic appearance. The Hyuuga patriarch continued, "As well as her engagement with Naruto Namikaze." Everyone began to clap enthusiastically. Hiashi made a hand gesture and a second later, Naruto and Hinata, holding hands, came into view. All people, even K-15 members and children, were awestruck by what they saw.

Hinata Hyuuga wore a light lavender kimono with flowers on the sides and a purple obi. The red lipstick and the other light makeup she used combined with her pale lavender eyes and midnight indigo hair were enough to make her one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Naruto Namikaze had donned a jet-black Kumo jonin/officer kimono traditionally worn to formal celebrations. He wore a lightning-shaped medal around his neck; many senior ninjas were astonished to recognize it as a **Medal for Heroism**, the highest military award in Kumo. Considering the many military citations on Naruto's left breast, they wondered at the blond's ninja career in Kumo. The uniform suited the young man perfectly, and with his sky-blue eyes and sun-kissed golden hair, made him one of the most dashing and handsome men in the world.

Shouts of "You look GREAT, big sister!" and "You look AWESOME, boss!" made everyone jump and quickly turn towards to the sources of the exclamations. They were all amused to see Natsu quickly putting her hands on the young Hyuuga's mouth, and Asuma lightly hitting his nephew on the head. The Uchiha children snickered at the latter scene. Everyone clapped again as Naruto and Hinata perfectly fulfilled the image of a golden couple.

"_Naruto seems relaxed."_ Fu noted.

"**Really? Take a look at their feet,"** Chomei suggested. The green-haired girl then observed that Naruto and Hinata both wore ninja sandals instead of traditional ones. **"Hasn't Kurenai taught you to look underneath the underneath? Kunoichi are not the only ones good at deception by appearance, male shinobi do it too. Don't ever let a facade fool you, Fu."**

"_But why they are like this?_" the curious Nanabi jinchuuriki asked.

"**In case things go south; Naruto is very wary of Konoha and the Hyuuga clan."** The mention of the clan confused the girl.

"_What does it have to do with the Hyuugas?"_

"**There are too many problems to go into right now, but the main one is the Hyuuga traditions. Many Hyuuga Main house traditionalists demanded that Hiashi send one of his children, namely Hinata, to the Branch house as a tradition requires.**"

"_Such arrogant people, treating their people as slaves..."_ the jinchuuriki inwardly commented with a bitter taste in her mouth, while recalling what happened to her Hyuuga friends, Neji and Aoi.

Chomei continued, **"And if Hinata becomes a Branch member, then it would be easy for some people to control Naruto through her. He views this compound and the village as a potential warzone. It's possible the Hyuuga Traditionalists might do something funny tonight, but I hope I am wrong. In his kimono, he has hidden enough Havoc and other tactical seals to destroy the entire compound, and his room has more tags- with firepower enough to level half the village…"**

In the mindscape, Fu gave a 'no shit' expression, before she argued, _"There are many innocent bystanders here! Children! Does Naruto really want them getting hurt?"_

"**Of course he doesn't, believe me, and you don't need to worry about them; he isn't a Kumo commander for nothing. The boy has got that covered."** The seven-tailed beast assured,** "There are several shadow clones here to provide support and evacuate all non-combatants in case of a firefight. Naruto wants you to stay out of this."**

Fu's eyes widened a bit,_ "Shadow clones? Where? I don't see them."_

"**They are using Predator stealth seals, so even the Byakugan can't see them. They hide better than the ANBU here of course… Anyway, Fu, Misato is calling you."**

"Fu! Fu! Are you talking with Chomei now?" The Aburame matriarch nudged the green-haired girl gently, while holding two cups of drink on her hands. "Anyway, Lord Hiashi is inviting everyone to join the toast!"

"Hai, gomen…" Fu said sheepishly, and quickly took a cup from Misato's hand. "And thanks! You are the best!"

Both of them quickly raised their cups to join the toast with the others, as Hiashi blessed his eldest daughter and future son-in-law.

"May Hinata and Naruto live happily ever after!"

People cheered aloud and the party began.

XXXXXXXXX

_Konoha Walls_

The rumble of three closing 30 meter-high gates and their operating machines was so loud that people two hundred metres away could still hear them.

**KOOM!** The sound was heard across half a kilometre when the titanium-alloy reinforced gates finally shut. Step one was complete.

Night had already fallen an hour ago, but the forest outside of the Konoha walls was as bright as daylight, as it was illuminated by scores of powerful searchlights on the Konoha watch towers.

Project Firewall was the primary product of Crimson Contingency: it was a powerful dome barrier that completely surrounded Konoha and made it impossible for anything to penetrate the defence, even Tailed Beast Balls. The son of the Yellow Flash was back, but the threats from Iwa and Kumo were still at large and Crimson Contingency was still in effect. Konoha soldiers still needed to carry out the Firewall temporary shutdown procedures, as the village was at war.

On the 100 metre-high Konoha walls, artillery battery genin were busy loading the village ballista, trebuchets and catapults. The ballista arrows were tagged with explosive notes, and the rocks on trebuchets and catapults were covered with explosive notes. They were primed to explode on contact.

"ARTILLERIES READY SIR!" meant that the second step was complete.

At the same time, more than 500 chunin and a few special jonin including chunins Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki put their scrolls on the ground and shouted "Kai!" in unison. Crossbows appeared in front of them. Each of them then retrieved a smaller scroll from their flak jacket pockets before slapping it underneath their own crossbow. They all pointed their crossbows outside the Konoha walls, looking for an unfortunate target.

"CROSSBOWMEN READY SIR!" Now, all three preparation steps were done.

"Lock and load!" Kotetsu shouted excitedly. He caught several FNGs looking curiously and enviously at the toy he had.

"Sir… the weapon you are holding… what is it?" a genin asked. Kotetsu answered with a smile on his face.

"Genin, _this_ is Assault-Kunai Type 16, but we call it AK-16 for short, and this scroll," he casually touched said small object underneath his crossbow, "is a special storage scroll we call Cartridge. It pre-stores 30 kunai to launch from the crossbow automatically and can be replaced by another Cartridge scroll when it is exhausted. They are the state of the art, created by our R&amp;D eggheads."

"May I have a closer look?" The same genin asked, while hinting he wanted to hold it.

"Sorry, but you _can't_ touch it." The chunin rejected the genin's request and he explained. "Because the security seal registers my blood and chakra, any non-owner, even my best buddy, touching the crossbow will cause the seal to self-destruct the weapon. We can't let village secrets be stolen and researched by enemies, can we?"

XXXXXXXXX

_Hyuuga Clan Party Hall_

"Man, I've told you guys, I have had a troublesome feeling about this party…"

"You always say that, Shikamaru, you always say: 'I got a troublesome feeling about this platoon meeting'," Fu said jokingly to her Nara friend.

It was now 2100 and the celebration had ended ten minutes ago. The party had become a K-15 platoon meeting, with their parents in attendance, except for Sakura's. The children, most of the Hyuuga Main house members and Danzo had left for home.

The newly-appointed platoon leader, Naruto, had Hiashi's permission to talk to and interview all K-15 members at the after party. Naruto and Hinata and all K-15 members seated themselves in a semi-circle fashion, and other people sat outside the group. Shikamaru was the first to begin his introduction on his likes and dreams.

"I like napping and shogi. I just want to be an ordinary ninja with an ordinary career, marry a girl who is not too pretty or too ugly. Have two kids; a girl then a boy, retire when my daughter marries and my son becomes a ninja. Enjoy a peaceful and carefree retirement until I die before my wife. This is my dream." Naruto was staring at the Nara blankly for ten seconds.

"That's it? No grand ambition?" Naruto asked when he finally found his voice. The Nara simply shook his head and yawned. The Namikaze's jaw dropped a bit; he didn't know what to say about it. Everyone else let out a small laugh while Shikaku chuckled sheepishly and was avoiding his wife's glare.

"**Like father, like son…"** Kurama commented dryly.

'Glad you didn't say that _she_ ain't the prettiest in her presence and I can't save you from her tessen…' Choji recalled a certain blonde girl met when Team 10 and their fathers were in a diplomatic mission to Suna to strengthen the alliance for Konoha.

It was Choji's turn next. He spoke after he took a bite on a BBQ skewer, "I like to taste every snack I can find and I love BBQ chips the most. I want to be like my dad and demonstrate that big-boned can be great ninja."

"I like shopping, cherry tomatoes and pudding! My dream is to prove that a kunoichi can be beautiful and deadly, and I want to become a great interrogator and mind-reader like my daddy!"

"My hobby is fortune-telling and I like sesame dumplings. My dream is to become a powerful kunoichi like Lady Tsunade!" The Slug Sannin smiled proudly at Tenten.

"I like my family and meditation. I don't have any dream, because it is unreachable."

Naruto let out an irritated sigh at his surrogate brother's pessimistic view on life, but simply let it go for a moment. He would do something about that later.

"Yosh! I like training and mild curry! My dream is to show the entire world that it's possible to be a splendid ninja without ninjutsu and genjutsu!"

"THAT'S THE MOST YOUTHFUL DREAM, LEE!" Gai roared, and tears were flowing from his eyes, startling Naruto, Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya. Kakashi and Asuma hurriedly grabbed Gai while Neji and Tenten held Lee, sparing the Uzumaki group from the horror of the Gai-Lee genjutsu.

Yakumo began her introduction, "I like sweets and painting and I wish to become a powerful kunoichi without genjutsu."

On Ranmaru's turn, "I like spicy curry. My dream is to be a powerful swordsman like my father… and to see my birth village and Konoha in peace and prospering."

Naruto casually took a deep sip of his drink to hide his deep thought. 'Ranmaru doesn't recognize me as Raiga's killer… But he wants to go back to Kiri?'

"I want to become the best hunter-nin in the world with Akamaru, and become the next commander of the hunter division after mum!" Said ninken barked in agreement.

"I like tomatoes and onigiri, as well as training." Sasuke began his introduction, trying to impress the son of the Yellow Flash for a training opportunity for his clan's sake, "And my dream is to restore my clan's former glory with the Uchiha Corps."

'Oh? Based on his action in Wave, I thought his dream was to kill Itachi…What happened?' Naruto wondered, before turning toward Sakura Haruno, "Your turn."

"M-My d-dream i-is t-to be-be the best med-medical ninja and e-earn the r-respect of a certain someone, Lo-Lord N-Namikaze." Sakura said in stammer while shaking a bit.

The big shot was the son of the Yondaime Hokage! Based on what the blond did to Gato and his goons, he wouldn't be merciful to her and her family for what her ex-councillor auntie had done to him and the Hyuuga heiress. She was screwed, so screwed, she thought. Even Inner Sakura was trembling.

"Relax, Haruno, it is not a job interview and it is not formal. And drop the 'Lord' word; we are not polite out here." Naruto told Sakura. 'I thought her dream would be centring on Sasuke considering the Wave mission. It seems there is some hope for her.'

"Hai."

"I like drawing and my dream is to make Konoha great." Sai said as he introduced himself.

'No personal dream? Not to mention this guy's smile isn't genuine...' Naruto thought.

"My hobbies are entomology and insect collection, and I like winter melon and grass salad. My dream is to find the biggest and the most exotic bug in the world."

Naruto smiled a bit, thinking, 'And you have, Aburame, you have.'

"Me, me!" It's was finally Fu's turn, "I like karaoke, and my friends: Chomei, K-15, Kurenai, Anko, Shizune and Yugao. They are all my friends! And my dream…" The girl thought fondly about her entrance day at the Konoha academy three years ago…

_It had taken a week for Fu to settle down in Konoha; the Hokage had given her an apartment and monthly allowance. Now it was time for her to go to the ninja academy. _

"_Class, this is our new student Fu, be nice to her, OK?" Chunin Iruka Umino addressed his students. The scarred-nose instructor then looked down at the green-haired girl and smiled warmly at her. "So Fu, tell us your dream for the future."_

_Usually, Fu was outgoing and cheerful, but now she was nervous, very nervous. 'This is it. Brother Shibuki said I can get a new and better life here, no one here knows I am a jinchuuriki. I can easily make friends here!' But many pairs of eyes were bearing down on her, and this made her even more nervous._

"_**Relax Fu…" **__Chomei told her. __**"You can make a good impression here."**_

_The girl had been working her brain on how to make a good impression to her potential friends here. It took her one good minute to get an idea. She took a deep breath before she told everyone her dream, just as she was telling Naruto and Hinata now._

"I want to become Hokage!"

Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened. "What?" They both shouted. Hinata was very surprised that the green-haired girl had Naruto's old dream.

"Why do you want to become Hokage?" The Hyuuga heiress asked. Fu chuckled lightly.

"At first, it was a just random idea to impress the class, but things changed." The Nanabi jinchuuriki began to tell her story to her precious friends, the K-15.

_Three Years Ago_

Fu was singing as she was heading to a store for groceries after school. She was happy as she counted her friends in the class: 'Shikamaru is lazy and complaining, but very smart and likes to watch clouds. Choji is kind and loves eating chips, and he hates to be called fat. Ino is bossy towards Shikamaru and Choji, but she is the most popular girl in the Academy. I wish I could be like her and have no problem making friends.'

'Sasuke is a bit distant, but still friendly despite the massacre. Sakura has a civilian background, but she has a powerful councillor auntie. She is nice and is very sensitive about her forehead. Not to mention, she had a rivalry with Ino for Sasuke's affection. Kiba is brash and loud, but very loyal.'

There was one more clan child in her class, 'What is his name? Oh yes Shino! Hard to remember him. He is too quiet and it is very hard to notice him. Ino and Sakura mentioned he's always watching me…Why?'

Today a new student came into Fu's class, and she was happy to make friends with him. This person was always smiling and she had no doubt he could be a friend for life. This person's name was Sai. Life was going to be good in this village…

"Welcome!" The store owner shouted cheerfully, before she turned around and frowned upon identifying the customer entering her shop. "Hey, what the hell are you doing here? Get out of my shop!" Fu was baffled and became a little scared of the lady's unexpected hostility.

"What!? But I always come to your store, why am I not welcome? What have I done?" She protested. The old lady quickly picked up her broom.

"GET OUT YOU FILTHY DEMON!"

Fu was chased out of the shop. To say she was stunned was an understatement. The green-haired girl couldn't understand why the nice old lady suddenly became hostile towards her.

'What the hell is going on?'

She realized that she was surrounded by many bystanders who were attracted by the commotion. Some were whispering words like "demon", "monster", and "like the Kyuubi," and they were all giving her that look, that cold look that made her very uncomfortable. It reminded her of the general Taki population.

That was it. Fu quickly fled while trying to suppressing her tears. Unbeknownst to her, a certain afro-haired boy hidden behind an electrical pole had witnessed the whole scene. He was very confused by the situation.

'It doesn't make any logical sense at all… My kikai bugs state that she has kage-level chakra reserves and they worship her as the Insect Princess. But why do people hate her?'

Things went downhill very fast. The next day, most of her academy friends broke their friendships with her and became rather cold towards her. They always ignored her existence and even walked away when the girl called out to them.

Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke and Sakura were very confused about Fu's current situation; they just stood by and watched in bewilderment.

"What the hell is going on?" the Uchiha asked and the Haruno added her two cents.

"My auntie councillor has told me that Fu is very dangerous and wants me to stay away from her, but she doesn't seem to be…"

"Really? But my daddy said she is fine. In fact, he even encouraged me to befriend her." Ino said.

"Me too." Sasuke agreed as his mother had told him the same things. All the other children nodded. The future members of Teams 7 and 10 didn't say anything more as they observed that only Sai sat with Fu for lunch. They decided to monitor the event before reaching a conclusion. They didn't notice Shino was sitting next to them and didn't ask him for his thoughts.

Later that afternoon, in a clearing, Fu was crying quietly and Chomei felt terribly sorry for her. The jinchuuriki was covering her bruised left cheek. There were three girls standing behind her.

"An outsider wants to become a Hokage? Ha! You gotta be joking me. Your dream is so stupid, and you ain't even from this village..." Ami sneered. The purple-haired girl was holding a stick and so were her friends. After the failed attempt to bully Sakura last year, Fu now became their unfortunate target. Ami and her two friends insincerely offered to rekindle their friendship after the class, and Fu didn't realize it was a trap until Ami hit her with a hidden stick.

"Yeah, she might be a spy from her village!" Fumiko, the second bully said. "We are doing the Hokage a favour by teaching the spy a lesson!"

"Yeah! Freak!" the third girl said. The three girls menacingly marched towards Fu, with sticks in their hands.

It hurt. People called her mean names and it wasn't fair! She had begun a new life here and it happened all again. The jinchuuriki glared at the three bullies with hatred and she was going to unleash some of Chomei's chakra…

"**No, don't do it, Fu!" **the Nanabi shouted within her mind. If the jinchuuriki unleashed the Nanabi chakra, it would certainly attract unwanted attention and the situation would be worse! There was a very loud buzz and everyone heard it coming from all directions. The girls froze and dropped their jaws upon seeing the source.

Huge swarms of cockroaches were flying towards them, and they were all fat and gross. All of them were flapping their sickening wings in their disgusting glory. Thousands of cockroaches had surrounded the terrified girls and swarmed the three bullies aggressively.

"THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!" Fumiko tried to swat the cockroaches away but to no avail.

"MOMMY!"

"GET THEM OFF ME!" Ami cried as her face was covered by cockroaches.

The three girls ran away screaming, leaving Fu flabbergasted in the field, unable to comprehend what happened. None of the girls ever noticed the same afro-haired boy hidden behind a tree. He gave an approving nod and a silent thanks to his cockroach allies before quickly left the scene.

In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Kurenai had been watching the whole event in the Hokage's crystal ball. Initially, all of them wanted to shunshin to the Nanabi jinchuuriki to help her, but watching the boy's presence and his action made them smile. Jiraiya was writing his notebook frantically.

"I don't see someone using a jutsu against his fellow classmates." The Hokage announced as he overlooked the boy using his clan technique to scare off the bullies. Everyone nodded.

"I will get Ibiki to have some talks with the girls and expel them from the academy." The Hokage turned to look at the Genjutsu Mistress, "Kurenai, this girl is the jinchuuriki to Nanabi. Your newest mission is to be her guardian. This is an S-rank mission."

"Hai." Kurenai bowed, "I gladly accept this mission."

Half an hour later, Fu walked back to her apartment still feeling depressed at the recent events. She was surprised to see Shino, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura all waiting for her at the door. Their parents had told them the rumours were total BS.

The Inuzuka was the first to speak. "People say you are dangerous, but I see you a good, loyal friend. So screw the rumour! We are a pack, aren't we Akamaru?"

Said puppy barked in agreement before he jumped from his master's head to Fu. The green-haired girl laughed when the puppy licked her face.

"My birthday is coming soon. You want to come to the party?" Shino offered.

"Want to go cloud watching with me and Choji later?"

Choji gave her a paper before explaining to her, "This is the list of Akimichi clan owned restaurants, you are welcome to come there for a meal."

Sasuke stepped in and gave her a bag, "This is Uchiha senbei. I am sure you will like it because Uchiha snacks are the best of the world." Sakura then stepped in and presented Fu a card.

"I don't understand why people don't welcome you in their shops, but you are my best friend beside Pig and I hope this can help you…" Fu saw it was a VIP card of the Haruno department stores. "With this, no one can refuse you services at the Haruno shops, or they will have to answer to my parents."

Sai quickly drew a picture and he presented it to them. It was all nine of them plus Akamaru together smiling. Even Sasuke made a small smile upon seeing the picture.

Ino grabbed Fu's hand and spoke, "You've got the card from Forehead. Now let's go shopping!" Sakura joined the two girls walking off towards the department store, "I will help you dress gorgeously for the birthday party!"

Fu was crying with joy and Chomei was very happy for her. These people came to reaffirm their friendship to her, and they were true friends in her time of need. She would never be alone.

Next week, Yakumo, Lee, Tenten and Neji joined in. The K-15 members were friends for life.

_Back in the Present_

Shino remained unfazed by the look everyone was giving to him when Fu mentioned the cockroach swarms helped her. Minato's generation was holding their laughter until Tsume burst out laughing and the rest of her peers followed suit. Even Hiashi and Shibi were chuckling loud. Naruto's and Kakashi's generations were very confused.

"What is going on?" Naruto asked, baffled.

"It reminds us of a very similar story. Let me tell you this story…" Mikoto said in amusement. "It was a girl who hailed from a foreign village coming here. Though these two villages were friends she was still considered a foreigner. On her academy entrance she proclaimed to her class that she would become Hokage one day, resulting many laughing at her. Some even went as far as to bully her, and even a genin was involved… The girl had a secret admirer, but the ending came differently. The boy wanted to step in and interfere to help the girl against her bullies, but she fought back and won."

"Is it a true story, mum?" Sasuke asked, impressed by this academy girl beating down a genin.

"Yes." Mikoto nodded and smiled. She and her peers all turned to look at Naruto with a big smile.

"The boy and the girl later became the Yondaime Hokage and the Whirlpool Princess. They are your parents, Naruto." Hitomi added. Except her peers, everyone's eyes widened. Naruto was stunned and speechless.

"And not to mention these two incidents happened in the same place… Kami..." Tsume added as she recalled the fond memory.

'Fu and Shino… They are like Kushina and Minato…' Hinata thought in amazement.

"**Your previous host had that Hokage dream too, Kurama?" **Chomei asked his nine tailed brethren

"**I…I don't know, Chomei… This must be before Mito transferred me to Kushina… Though I do know about Kushina being bullied too…"** Kurama answered. The fox was amazed too. **"Naruto and Hinata are very similar to Kushina and Minato. I never thought there was another pair like them… It seems we have another golden couple…"** Chomei started to laugh and Kurama joined too.

Everyone looked at the stunned Naruto, who was sitting on his chair opening and closing his mouth several times. It took him a minute to process what Fu, Mikoto and Hitomi said before he turned to his fellow jinchuuriki.

"Do you really want to become Hokage?" Naruto asked. Fu nodded and replied.

"Yes. Thanks to everyone here, especially Sakura, I am growing to like Konoha better than Taki." Naruto and Hinata raised their eyebrows.

"Sakura?" Said pinkette shrank in embarrassment at the look the Naruto, Hinata and everyone else gave her. Ino stepped in and explain.

"Sakura got into an argument with her councillor auntie for renewing Fu's annual VIP card every year, but her parents supported her because they believe she is doing the right thing. They said 'No child should suffer such prejudice.'"

"I see." Naruto said with a smile. He was impressed and he started to look at the Haruno in a new light for helping his jinchuuriki sister. Many bad things happened to him since his return to Konoha, but Fu's stories certainly cheered him up.

"Naruto, I've heard of Sakura's family's accounts and businesses being seized due to suspected embezzlement of your parents' fortune. Can you show them mercy, please? Mr. Kizashi and Ms. Mebuki are good people… I ask you for a favour and they shouldn't suffer your wrath, please…" Fu said in a very humble tone hoping to convince her jinchuuriki brother. Sakura was looking at Naruto nervously along with everyone else, awaiting his verdict.

It took Naruto a minute to answer after a deep thought, "NO, can't do it. I have to set a good example and I have to take back every ryo of my fortune that is rightfully mine. What happened to them, broke or jobless, is none of my concern. My decision stands." The blond answered coldly. Sakura, Fu and Ino lowered their heads in defeat. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes.

"I am so sorry I can't help you Sakura…" Fu muttered sadly as she saw her pink-haired friend sobbing quietly and her tears stained her qipao. 'Naruto is so cold and unmerciful…'

"Fu," Naruto spoke again, "As I have said, I want to take back every ryo of mine with interest, and I will return the remainders to the owners. I will send shadow clones to speed up the recovery so the Haruno's accounts can be unfrozen as soon as possible. I intend to keep the businesses to generate profits even I am not in Konoha anymore, so I need someone I can trust. How about you take the president job? If you take my offer, you will never have to worry about money and groceries."

"How do I run shops when I am a kunoichi?" Fu asked with a frown. 'Why did he bring this up?'

"That you don't need to worry. You can use shadow clones, can't you? And I can teach you the Shadow Legion technique, which is much better than the shadow clone technique." Everyone raised their eyebrows.

"Shadow Legion?"

"An advanced mass shadow clone technique developed by my mum." Naruto took a sip of his drink before explaining, "She used the incomplete version against Kiri in the last war, and I let Kumo taste it two weeks ago. It has nearly come to completion. Perhaps you can help me to complete it and you can call your version 'Shadow Wing'."

'Shadow Legion… I wonder if I can learn it too…' Sasuke thought eagerly.

"But I don't have any business experience…" Fu said in low confidence.

"**Girl… You can hire Sakura's parents to help you run the companies. You can reinstate them or promote them."** Chomei interrupted. Fu's eyes widened.

"Can I run the HR department and hire anyone I like? Like Mr. Kizashi and Ms. Mebuki?" She asked.

Naruto nodded curtly, "No problem, you are the president after all, as long as they do their jobs properly and generate profits for the businesses."

"Then I will take the job and hire Sakura's parents!" Sakura started to cry in joy. The pinkette stood up from her seat and bowed to her green-haired friend deeply while kept saying "Thank you". Fu hugged her best female friend, and Ino joined in.

'Real smooth, Naruto…' Tsunade and other senior jonins thought as they had looked behind the façade, 'You want to play the bad guy and let Fu play the good one to win over the populace for her dream…'

Naruto looked at the K-15 members. Chomei spoke highly of them. 'Good, auntie Tsunade is right; K-15 isn't the chickenshit outfit I initially thought it was... They had helped my jinchuuriki sister in her time of need and they do have potential.' He turned to the Godaime Hokage.

"I now see they possess a strong Will of Fire, through helping Fu. They have potential. For that, I accept your request to take command of and train this platoon." Tsunade and Hiruzen smiled. Naruto then stood up and looked at K-15. "All right, listen up! This unit has been reassigned to be a new, special elite team, the Konoha Raiders, and I am your new commander and sensei!"

The members of K-15 were surprised. "Raiders? Commander? Sensei?" Ranmaru asked, shocked.

Sasuke was happy for this news and was shouting "Yeah!" inwardly.

Tsunade started to explain. "K-15 will become an experimental special elite unit. Every superpower village has her own elite forces: Kumo, the Golden Horn Forces, Suna, its Puppet Brigade, the Mist has the Seven Swordsmen, and Iwa the Explosion Corps. Konoha has her own elite unit but it is the Medics Corps, and it isn't a combat unit. We have the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, but the unit is under the Fire Daimyo's command. So sensei and I decided it's time to create new special forces, and I tasked Naruto to train you and serve as your commander."

She continued, "And, K-15 will no longer be under Battalion K's command. It is now an autonomous unit and answers to the Hokage only. Your unit will have battalion-grade resources and access to special weaponry, including but not limited to the AK-16. Any questions?" Tenten raised a hand.

"What happened to our jonin senseis?"

"Your jonin instructors will return to their commander posts. Shino?" The Slug Sannin pointed to the Aburame who raised his hand.

"No offense to Naruto, but aren't Lord Jiraiya or Kakashi more suitable to lead us?"

"Jiraiya and Kakashi are more suited to being the frontline field commanders of the Konoha Battle Groups with Asuma. I want Naruto to command and train K-15 because he has more knowledge about Kumo. He will take K-15 behind enemy lines and cause damage to them. The Cloud village had committed an act of war by kidnapping Naruto and Hinata, not to mention the attempt on Kushina 25 years ago. It is time for us to act…" Tsunade said with steely determination in her voice. "Naruto has evidence of Kumo's crimes and we will use it to force them to surrender. If this pressure fails, then I am going to declare war on Kumo with Iwa after the Chunin Exam, as the Godaime Hokage. I want to end this once and for all."

"The Namikaze and the Uzumaki clans support your decision." Naruto immediately announced, and the other clan heads stood up from their seats and professed their support.

"The Hyuuga clan is with you, Lady Hokage." Hiashi said.

"The Uchiha clan supports your cause." Mikoto declared.

"The Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans are at your disposal." Shikaku spoke as a representative of the three clans.

"The Aburame clan is at your command."

"The Inuzuka clan is always loyal and faithful to the Hokage!"

Tsunade's smile grew to the fullest when the Sarutobi, Hatake and Kurama clans also declared their support to her, and of course the Senju clan was in. The Fifth Hokage would have gained the whole ninja council's unanimous support had the Shimura clan head stayed for this after-party, but she already knew the war hawk would vote "aye" for different and unholy reasons.

"Are we really suitable for this special operation unit?" Yakumo asked fearfully. Her near-death encounter with Iwa Juggernauts was still fresh in her mind. "Most of us just graduated a few months ago."

"Rest assured, I will train you to be ready before we are sent out for A- or S-rank missions and campaigns. I will assign a jonin-class shadow clone to each of you personally for training, so you can get my full attention and maximize your training effort." Naruto said. Sasuke let a grin appear on his face, while Shikamaru groaned aloud.

'Now I do have a very troublesome feeling about this!' The Nara thought, horrified.

Naruto's sky-blue eyes swept the faces of K-15 members and a smile appeared on his face, "All right, K-15, we are a team and there is nothing to worry about, for we will be a team of ultimate badasses! We come, we conquer and we gonna kick some, is that understood?"

"Yeah!" Hinata, Fu, Ino, Tenten, Sasuke, Kiba, Lee and Ranmaru shouted. Shino too, as he followed his secret crush. The others, Sakura, Yakumo, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji and Sai were a bit apprehensive and responded with a "Yes…" half-heartedly. This earned a frown and a nudge from their comrades and the senior ninjas, implying that they had better say it better next time.

The K-15 commander continued, "Yep, that's what we are gonna do, sweethearts. We will go and _get some!_ So K-15! Are you lean?"

"Yeah!" The platoon exclaimed together.

"Are you _mean_?"

Everyone had fire in their eyes and said "Yeah!"

"So what are you?!" Naruto asked them aloud.

"Lean and mean!" All K-15 members claimed, but the voice was not loud enough. The blond put his right hand behind his ear and barked his question.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!"

They all stood up from their chairs and shouted in union: "LEAN AND MEAN!"

Naruto made an ear-to-ear grin and pumped his fist, "That's right! My team of ultimate badasses!"

All the senior ninjas, clan heads, and the Hokages looked at Naruto and his morale-raising pep talk in astonishment, he was a true leader just like his parents.

"YOSH! THAT IS THE MOST YOUTHFUL MORALE-RAISING TALK I EVER HEARD!" Gai shouted, startling everyone, especially the Uzumaki group including Hinata. Tears were rolling down his cheeks at the points, "I SHOULD MAKE MY BATTALION M THE UNIT OF THE MOST ULTRA YOUTHFUL IN THE WORLD! FIRST STARTING WITH THE UNIFORM, I WILL HAVE THE WHOLE BATTALION WEAR MY ATTIRE, EVEN AT MY OWN EXPENSE!"

Except the Uzumakis, everyone began to shudder at the images of 1000 men and women from Battalion M wearing green spandex and their teeth flashing brightly like the sun.

Lee appeared in front of his sensei and had anime tears flowing from his eyes. "SENSEI! I WILL BECOME A BATTALION COMMANDER TOO, SO THERE WILL BE MORE FOLLOWERS OF THE FLAMES OF YOUTH! IF I CAN'T DO IT, I'LL RUN 1000 LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS BACKWARD!"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT LEE! AND I SHALL BECOME A BATTLE GROUP COMMANDER LIKE MY HIP AND COOL RIVAL! SO ALL FIVE BATTALIONS AND THEIR 5000 SOLDIERS CAN RADIATE BRIGHTLY WITH THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH! IF I CAN'T, THEN I SHOULD CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT WITH ONE HAND AND A TON OF ROCKS 1000 TIMES!"

Naruto, Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya stared at the duo blankly and their jaws dropped at the ridiculous insane training/punishment. Then a beautiful sunset and crashing waves appeared before their eyes.

XXXXXXXXX

_Konoha Operations Centre_

Ninety seconds counted down before the Firewall shutdown. Alert lights were flashing inside the Konoha Operations Centre chamber, and everyone there was busy doing the final check on the Firewall shutdown.

"The patrol teams and J-platoons confirm all zones clear, sir!"

"The Hyuuga team on the wall finished the final scan on the forest and they report all clear!"

"What about the Yamanaka team with their mind-controlled hawks?" Raido asked Tsubaki.

"A second please…" the kunoichi was still receiving words from the team. A moment later she spun her chair and faced her commander, "They have finished the final swooping and they report all clear!"

"All green lights…" Raido said as he looked at the digital watch on the wall. Thirty seconds to shut down the Firewall defence. The special jonin carefully typed in a sequence of codes on his control panel, then put his hand on the Firewall button and started the countdown aloud.

"…Nine… Eight… Seven…"

XXXXXXXXX

_Three Minutes Later_

Staying at her house alone, Izumi Uchiha looked at the beautiful fireworks in awe.

"Is there something to celebrate?" She wondered. The fireworks reminded her of her fondest memory at the Kyuubi Festival many years ago. She had attended it with a certain someone before the massacre. She turned to the photo she cherished the most and smiled. The photo was taken at that Kyuubi Festival. In it, she wore a simple kimono that was enough to make her a beauty, and he just simply wore his standard Uchiha attire. Their friends and clanswomen had teased that they were a golden couple, much to her embarrassment.

It had been five years since the massacre; her mother was killed in an explosion and she herself was a victim of Tsukuyomi. But she forgave him for the heinous crime he committed when Mikoto had told her the truth. To her shock and pain, she had learned then that the man she loved very much was ordered to pacify their rebellious clan. It had taken all her strength to pretend to sleep and not to cry. But when the Uchiha matriarch left her room, she couldn't contain her emotions anymore.

Now she took the photo frame and held it on her chest closely and let a few tears come out of her eyes as she quietly muttered his name in tears. He had since joined an organization composed of dangerous S-rank ninja criminals, as an undercover agent. She wanted him back home safe and to be with her, but he would never come back. They would never become a couple, for the crime he was ordered to commit. Their future was ruined by the clan foolishness and the massacre.

"Itachi…"

XXXXXXXXX

_Konoha Operations Centre_

The clock in the Konoha Operations Centre chamber displayed "21:39:50." The fireworks had stopped nearly a minute ago. "Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One…" Raido counted down as he watched the clock closely without blinking. His right hand was on the Firewall button.

"ZERO!" He exerted more pressure than was required, to ensure the button being pressed. No second of delay was allowed.

Inscriptions on the Konoha walls glowed brightly for a second, then an invisible barrier quickly formed around the walls and rose up to the sky. Within nine seconds the barrier covered Konoha in a dome shape. The village was now well-protected and impregnable.

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto, Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya were walking back to Hiashi's house for retreat of the night. "That is very unsettling, two men hugging and crying hysterically, shouting each other's name, not to mention the crashing waves and sunset genjutsu in the middle of night..." Honoka said disturbed. "I am not sure if I can get a good sleep tonight…"

The other three agreed. The Gai-Lee genjutsu was something they would never forget and never wanted to see it again. All four of them had desperately tried to activate their hidden Shield seals but found they failed to respond. This genjutsu evidently was even more powerful than Itachi's genjutsu.

"Hey Naruto, I think there is some room for the Shield seal to improve; it's created and used in the Last Stand in an emergency. I believe your ability can bring the Shield to the next level." Honoka suggested to her clan head.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed eagerly. They would certainly upgrade the Shield fuinjutsu so they would never have to witness this Gai-Lee combo genjutsu. "By the way, Honoka, what did that shade-wearing guy named Aoba say to you at the party?"

Honoka blushed a bit, "He asked me for a lunch date tomorrow…"

"Oh? You said yes?" Naruto asked in an amused tone.

Honoka nodded and her cheeks were redder, and the Chain user quickly walked inside the house before Naruto asked her any more questions. A snickering Tayuya followed Honoka's heels.

There was a loud boom from the sky, Naruto and Hinata raised their heads and saw thunders cracking in the clouds. Bright white lights were flashing in the dark black night. More booming sounds were heard. A heavy rainstorm was quickly approaching Konoha.

"Something is wrong, Naruto?" Hinata asked him, as he looked worried at the sky.

"A storm is coming… I know it's a matter of time before the gori unleash his storm, but the question is: when?" He answered with a worried tone in his voice.

Hinata gently hugged Naruto to assuage his worry. "I know… but I'm sure we will be ready then. And no matter what happens, I will always be by your side." She kissed him on the cheek. "And there is nothing to worry about, as long as we are together." She drew a laugh from Naruto for recycling his pep talk. Hinata's pale lavender eyes then met Naruto's sky-blue eyes, as they conveyed to each other without words.

'No matter what happens, we will endure and pull it through.'

Hinata gently pulled Naruto's collar and himself down before her lips met his. The two hugged and kissed passionately and lost track of time.

XXXXXXXXX

_Konoha Operations Centre_

Everyone was cheering. The general, unspoken sentiment was 'The Firewall shutdown is finally over, and thank Kami, nothing happened.'

"Well done, people. Please make sure you always remain vigilant." Raido told the staff. "Now our shift is over. We can go home now."

"Yeah, we have another fireworks display at the Chunin Exam Finals to welcome daimyos, nobles and other VIP customers. It will last half an hour." Shimizu, a maimed chunin who wore prosthetics on his left arm and leg, added in his two cents worth.

They were all packing up and waiting for the next shift arrive to take over. Shimizu noted something on a CCTV screen before smiling and turning to Tsubaki.

"Hey Tsubaki, your fiancé is waiting for you outside the Hokage Tower." He told her. The black-haired kunoichi blushed and smiled. Everyone could see her happiness, as their wedding was set for a few days after the Chunin Exam. They had been all invited to the wedding.

Tsubaki's fiancé was an academy instructor and best friend to the acting headmaster, special jonin Iruka Umino. The man was pleasant and easy to get along with. He always came to pick up Tsubaki after her shift at the Konoha Operations Centre, while their partners never bothered to.

"Hey, he has brought umbrellas for everyone here." Shimizu said. It was raining heavy outside. "What a nice man."

XXXXXXXXX

"Chakra capacity at 98 percent..."

Professor E's calm voice came from the monitor in the temporary Kumo Council chamber; the original had been destroyed by the rogue Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The entire leadership earnestly watched the professor's announcement of the Hell Storm test's progress on a classified remote location.

On the display, they saw the bottom twin giant muzzles were glowing dangerously and beautifully. Electrical currents were darting around the two openings. It was almost ready to fire. In five more minutes, the Kumo leadership would see the destructive capability that Hell Storm could unleash on their enemies.

It took three minutes to charge each percent of chakra capacity; however, Professor E assured that the charger system and other features would be improved within seven weeks. So far today, everyone had been waiting for more than five hours and it'd been too damn long. The Raikage's patience had already run out when Hell Storm was 10% charged.

But the Kumo leadership was no bunch of chumps; they used this time to discuss their impending crisis. First of all, C came back with the shocking news: half of their ninja forces had been sterilized, including the councillors and the Raikage themselves. Needless to say, the council immediately erupted into an uproar and they unanimously demanded revenge on the culprit responsible, Naruto Namikaze.

But they had to put this aside, for there was a far more serious matter at hand… A threat of destruction that overshadowed what Naruto had done to Kumo two weeks ago.

"Our intelligence has recently spotted Iwa conducting a beach-storming military exercise. At least 4000 ninjas were involved in the exercise today, and more are on their way to participate in it. Former Tsuchikage Onoki personally oversees the exercise," the Kumo spymaster reported.

Everyone, including the Raikage, looked grim. They failed to notice that Hell Storm was now at 99%. A few councillors were trembling slightly.

Iwa was preparing an invasion on the Lightning Country western coast, and no doubt Konoha would join in after the Exam seven weeks later. It didn't matter that Naruto hadn't mastered the fearsome Hiraishin, he had two powerful armies namely Leaf and Rock behind his back.

Kumo's two loyal jinchuurikis, B and Yugito, had disappeared without a trace. The Golden Horn Forces were almost destroyed. The weapons of the Rikudo Sennin were suspected stolen. Many Kumo ninjas, including Darui, were still in ICUs. The Cloud village was in an unprecedented crisis and she would not survive this. It was clearly evidenced by the rare fear showing on the Raikage's scarred face. Their only hope was Hell Storm, Kumo's secret weapon of mass destruction.

Terrified screams were suddenly heard across the village, and tumult was everywhere. The Raikage, Dodai, C and the councillors were alarmed.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" A yelled his question as he and the councillors all dashed towards the balcony to see what happened. To their shock and terror, they saw a giant flying fortress hovering half a kilometre high, outside the gates. One councillor passed out, thinking it was the end of his village. The rest, including A, were trembling at the sight.

The flying fortress was colossal. It was cross-shaped, over five hundred metres wide and high. There were several Buddha face sculptures on the fortress, as well as two symbols on the fortress. One was a music note, the symbol of the hidden Sound village rumoured to be founded by Orochimaru, the traitorous Snake Sannin of Konoha. The other one was the symbol of a hidden village that was thought destroyed by Konoha in the Second Shinobi World War in vengeance for Uzushio.

"Lord Raikage!" Mabui slammed the chamber doors opened and shouted, with her voice full of fear and panic. "Orochimaru the Snake Sannin is here! That flying fortress is his! He sends a message demanding an audience with you!"

'Why is the Konoha traitor here? Does he come to finish Naruto's job?' Everyone thought, fearfully. But strangely, the fortress didn't advance towards the village and its main weapon was not active.

"What does the snake want!?" The Raikage asked agitatedly. Mabui looked very worried as she answered.

"He said he comes to help us to solve our problems and to offer the village membership in the Neo-Combine…"

While everyone stormed outside to see the flying fortress, Professor E was entirely focused on his work, completely unaware of the snake's arrival.

"Chakra is at 100! Finally!" the professor exclaimed excitedly when he saw the kanji for "One Hundred" displayed on the Hell Storm console. A twisted grin appeared on his face. He pointed his right hand towards the Hell Storm test target direction.

"Commence Hell Storm's 44th test now! Chakra Diffusion Cannons FIRE!"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Beta: Illuminated.

Proofread and consultation: Ookami88.

I have been very, very busy these months; job, family, and house rebuilding project, but I should have more time after this Christmas.

So the Combine, the army that destroyed Uzushio, is back. This most powerful army the world had ever seen was led by no other than Orochimaru. The other Combine member villages will come out next chapter. As you guys have noticed, this story has been renamed to The Maelstrom Saga, and this story is divided into three parts, for Naruto being a member of three clans:

Book One - **Namikaze of Cloud**, which is coming to an end in couple chapters.

Book Two – **Uzumaki: Crimson Tide**. This book is to be action/combat oriented. Naruto OST **Sunspot** is the best themes for Book Two. I will make the battles EPIC. Many people demand Danzo's death, but he is the final villain in Book Two and there will be a dramatic showdown with him in the end.

Book Three - **Return of the Senju**. As the descendant of Tobirama Senju, Naruto will face his greatest nemeses in the darkest days of the ninja world. This story ends in the fight against Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Regarding the AK-16, please refer to the movie Van Helsing 2004, the auto crossbow. It was co-developed by Konoha and Suna with their fuinjutsu and mechanism expertise respectively, and it was reverse-engineered from the Sky kunai launcher recovered at the Fall of Uzushio. The AK-16 term is derived from Russian AK-47 and American M-16 rifles. The crossbow and Battle Group terms are references that Konoha has superpower characteristics same as the USA and USSR. This story will delve into the superpower concepts and world order in later chapters. The Cartridge seal was also from Uzushio as well; and the 3 Uzumaki wouldn't be happy to learn about it.

I haven't decided Neji-Tayuya yet. There is no romantic relationship in all the ninja teams, except Team 7 where Sasuke and Sakura married, but Sasuke wasn't considered a member of Team 7 after his betrayal.

The age of ninja is over, according to the Boruto manga. I think it is rather the age of Japanese manga being over, and it's impossible to revive the golden age brought by Osamu Tezuka and Fujiko F Fujio. One day I will point out on my profile why the Japanese manga/anime industry has been declining since 1990s. Anyway Kishimoto kept ruining his manga, and Mikio Ikemoto put the final nail on the coffin. Rehashing the Boruto movie is pointless and bad, but his art sucks worse, even doujin amateurs do better job than him. If Ikemoto doesn't improve soon, then he should find another job.

Lastly, this story is adopted from devilzxknight86's Namikaze of Cloud, but it's **heavily** modified and **rebooted**. I only used a very few ideas from the original story. I appreciate devilzxknight86 for letting me adopt one of his stories, but I have been frustrated that many people think my story is almost the same as the original.


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